


Heat

by Nova_Raven



Series: Traphouse a/b/o [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Biting, Blowjobs, Body Dysphoria, Dubious Consent, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Knotting, Light Bondage, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Prejudice, Sexism, Warnings May Change, alternate physiology, handjobs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:13:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 84,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24600622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nova_Raven/pseuds/Nova_Raven
Summary: But then there was someone slamming on his bedroom door.It was Brennen, demanding in an angry but panicked voice, “Dude, why the fuck didn’t you tell me Colby was a fucking omega?”
Relationships: Colby Brock/Brennen Taylor, Sam Golbach/Katrina Stuart, Tarayummy/Jake Webber (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Traphouse a/b/o [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1789402
Comments: 61
Kudos: 67





	1. Chapter 1

Sam gasped, grinding up harder into Kat. He heard her whimper, but her tight grip holding his hair to the pillow didn’t falter, and she just arched her pelvis. Sam assumed she was pressing his cock against her g-spot.

“Kat. Kat...” Sam grabbed for her hips, but Kat just gripped his hand and pressed it back down into the bed, not changing the rhythm she was riding him at. Sam growled, but he knew better than to challenge his beta girlfriend. He may be the Alpha in their relationship, but Katrina had a dominant streak he had no problems enjoying. 

Especially seeing as how he was going to cum if she kept this up.

“Kat, Kat, I’m gonna…”

“Me too,” she gasped back, each downstroke grinding her clit against him. 

He groaned back at her, pulling against her grip on his hair, pushing against his wrist pressed to the bed. Not that he really wanted her to let go.

He enjoyed this way too much. 

And then she bit down hard over their mating mark on his neck, and Sam swore he just needed a couple more thrusts, could feel his cock swelling at the base, ready to lock into her body, and Kat was gasping, whimpering in air and growling it back out, obviously close too...

But then there was someone slamming on his bedroom door.

“What the fuck?” Sam demanded loudly as Kat full on turned and snarled at the door. It was a territorial sound, and if the scents they were throwing off hadn’t made clear what they were doing, that reaction certainly did. The person on the other side of the door didn’t seem to care however, giving Sam a short list of who it could be. The person, probably another roommate, continued to bang on the door, and as Sam slowly started to focus on the voice, he realized who it was, and what they were saying. 

It was Brennen, demanding in an angry but panicked voice, “Dude, why the fuck didn’t you tell me Colby was a fucking omega?”

And that stopped Sam and Kat dead. “What?” Kat asked while Sam shook his head, rolling his eyes.

Colby was a beta. He’d hit the eighteen-nineteen time period where the second gender of Alpha or omega would have presented itself and he hadn’t presented. That was unlike Sam, who had gone careening into an Alpha rut at nineteen that he was so glad Kat had been there for. They hadn’t been dating long at that point, just about six months, and Sam had been so worried that it was going to scare her off. But it hadn’t, and they came out of that so much closer than they had been.

Kinda happened when Kat had watched him literally beg her for sex and relief from the burning, aching lust for three days.

“He’s a fucking Beta, go away Brennen,” Sam shot back at the door, and Kat had let go of his trapped arm at the disturbance so Sam took the opportunity to grasp into her hips and press up into her again. 

Kat’s broken gasp lit the slowly lagging fire in his loins again and he was more than willing to ignore Brennen at this point when he heard Brennen yell, “Then please fucking explain to me why a Beta has gone into fucking heat!”

Sam and Kat paused again, looking at each other. Finally, Kat groaned, pulling herself off of Sam to a bereft whine from him. “I swear to God, Brennen, this had better not be a prank.” She quickly pulled on an oversized T-shirt and sweatpants, letting Sam scramble with the blankets when she pulled the door open.

And Sam didn’t know how he hadn’t smelled it before. It must have been from the scents that he and Kat were throwing off, but what Sam could smell through the open door was undeniably omega heat. “Shit…” He gasped, unable to control the way his cock throbbed at the smell, the desperate scent of heat, and he had to pause a moment, because underneath that aroma of delicious, aroused omega…

Was Colby’s scent. And he’d know that smell anywhere. 

“Fuck…” He breathed. “You’re not fucking with us.”

“Fucking wish I were,” Brennen muttered, and now that Sam could see him he could see the struggle that Brennen was going through, see the sweat broken out on his forehead, the trembling of his body. Because if the smell of _his best friend_ was affecting Sam like this, when he was already mated… he couldn’t imagine the sheer willpower it was taking Brennen, an unmated Alpha, to not jump Colby.

“Fuck…” Sam breathed, taking a deep breath through his nose and that was a mistake, because horny omega filled his nose and he groaned, having to hold his breath because this was _Colby,_ even as his cock throbbed again _._

“Where is he?” Kat asked, and Brennen just had to point down the hallway before Katrina was moving to Colby’s room. Sam was grateful. Omegas in heat didn’t have the same effect on Betas, even less on mated ones. Sam, and definitely Brennen, needed a moment to fucking regroup.

“Brennen…” Sam muttered, because now that his mate was gone the other scent was getting harder to ignore. “Brennen, close the door.”

He watched Brennen pause, swallow, his eyes move hungrily back towards Colby’s room. He almost looked like he was going to go back for Colby and Sam couldn’t have that. Ignoring his nakedness he moved from the bed and stepped between Brennen and the door frame. He closed the door and leaned against it; creating a barrier between himself and Brennen and the omega.

_Colby_ … fuck…

Sam wasn’t expecting the growl that leapt from Brennen’s lips when Sam put himself between Brennen and the door. The other Alpha stepped forward, baring his teeth at Sam. Fortunately, Sam had a lot of experience with Brennen, so he wasn’t afraid to growl back, standing forward and getting in Brennen’s space. Brennen took half a step back, his growl deepening and Sam matched it, snarling at Brennen, “Get it the fuck together, dude. This is Colby.”

Brennen didn’t seem to react for a moment, still growling at Sam. “This is Colby,” Sam reminded him again, his voice still a low rumble, “Get your shit together…” Brennen had made it all the way here. He’d had control over himself, hadn’t submitted to his urges to just fuck Colby. He could do it again.

God, Colby was a fucking omega… Sam was so glad that he hadn’t figured this new development out later, if Brennen hadn’t controlled himself, when he would have had to do damage control on what he was sure both of his friends would consider rape.

Brennen finally seemed to shake himself, some human-ness leaking back into eyes gone feral. “Brennen?” Sam asked, not letting his Alpha register drop from his voice, just in case. “You with me, bro?” The Alpha voice demanded attention and response, and Sam watched as even Brennen’s Alpha responded to it.

Brennen blinked slowly, before groaning and scrubbing his hands over his face. “Fuck… fuck, I’m so… fuck, I’m sorry, Sam.” He backed up, and all of the Alpha threat had dropped out of his voice and Sam knew he was fully with it again.

He relaxed the tension in his shoulders he hadn’t realized had developed. _Fuck…_ “What the hell happened?” He asked Brennen quietly.

“He fucking… he fucking, presented, I guess,” Brennen shrugged helplessly, running his hands through his hair and gripping his hair with white knuckles. “He was... he was fucking acting weird. Like he wouldn’t get too close to me and he got all weird whenever I tried to touch him, which like, whatever, that’s chill, and then… well, and then he was being weird with his phone and I uh… I might have tried to take it from him because it was uh… stupid, and I probably shouldn’t have tackled him, but…”

Sam felt his eyes widen. “Uh…”

Brennen let go of his hair and spun in a distressed circle. “I shouldn’t have done that, I knew he didn’t want to be touched, because he was fucking flinching and that was fucking stupid…”

“Brennen, you’re rambling…”

“I… fuck, sorry, sorry,” Brennen stopped pacing and crossed his arms tightly over his chest. “So I kinda tackled him, and then all of the sudden he just fucking smelled… like _that…_ ” He gestured at the door, gesturing to the fucking intoxicating omega that Sam and Brennen could both smell faintly through the door.

“I don’t… I don’t know how I got out of there…” Brennen said faintly. “I…” He shook his head. “He smelled so fucking good and…” He looked at Sam desperately. “I mean, you’re bonded and you smelled that, right?”

“I did…” Sam nodded faintly. “That was…” He swallowed, trying to force down his Alpha instincts demanding that he go and comfort - _fuck-_ the omega who smelled so fucking sweet and desperate.

But this was Colby. This was his best fucking friend. He wouldn’t let his secondary gender control him here.

_He still couldn’t believe Colby was a fucking omega..._

“I mean, what the fuck was I… What the fuck am I supposed to do?” Brennen demanded, and he sat back heavily on Sam’s bed. Sam shrugged helplessly, staring at the floor. Brennen was silent for a few moments, before he muttered, “Sam, could you put on some fucking pants, please?”

Sam grimaced, “Sorry…” He scanned the floor quickly for a pair of sweats, before he remembered that Kat had stolen his. “God dangit…” He went to his dresser for a pair of jeans.

“I didn’t know you could present this late,” Brennen said quietly. “I mean, Colby’s… he’s twenty-three, right?” He looked up at Sam, Sam finally managing to have gotten the jeans over his hips.

His dick was still sensitive and protested the tight fabric. Sam ignored it, hoping the discomfort would counteract his stupid Alpha brain.

“Yeah,” Sam nodded, reaching for a t-shirt. “I presented at like, nineteen. Always thought he just wasn’t going to have a secondary gender.”

“And he’s never, like… mentioned any of this to you, before?” Brennen asked, arms still crossed over his chest. Sam figured it was more of a self control and comforting measure than anything.

Sam shook his head. “Nope. Although, you know, when we were living in the apartments, he could have had a heat and I just didn’t know. We made sure the rooms were ventilated and scent-blocked because I know smelling my ruts bugged him.”

Brennen nodded, his face considering. “He didn’t look surprised,” Brennen said quietly. “Like, even after I tackled him and he just started smelling fucking amazing, and…” Brennen shook himself, and Sam was grateful that he’d stopped there. Because his human side was straight and not at all interested in Colby, or thinking about Colby in that way.

His Alpha side on the other hand… he would have to control. “We should go check on him. At least, I should,” Sam said quietly, already worrying about Colby. He’d had to spend a few ruts alone, Kat being out of town for whatever reason. It wouldn’t kill Colby but Sam knew that it was not pleasant.

_Had Colby gone through heats before? What had he done then?_

“I’m coming too,” Brennen said firmly, standing with his fists clenched at his sides.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Sam asked warily. He’d seen the difficult time Brennen had had controlling himself earlier.

“I just…” Brennen kicked the ground dejectedly. “I just feel like I should be there. Especially if me tackling him is like… the reason he went into heat or something.”

“I don’t… I don’t think that’s how that works…” Sam said, wincing. “I mean… he’d have his own cycles… like we do. If like, this isn’t him fucking presenting…” Fuck, if this was Colby fucking presenting… He remembered Tara saying something about an omega’s first heat, remembered her saying something about it being really intense but… now Sam wished he had fucking paid more attention. “You lose control, or if I think you’re going to lose control… you’re out of there,” Sam threatened lowly. Hell if he’d let Brennen’s Alpha fuck Colby’s omega without any sort of discussion of consent between them.

“Yeah, yeah, of course, of course,” Brennen nodded quickly, “I don’t… I can’t…” He tried the sentence twice, but sighed, pushing his hands through his hair. “I don’t want to rape him…”

Sam grimaced, his chest hurting at the idea, but he nodded anyway. “I won’t let you,” He said firmly. “And fuck knows Kat won’t. She’ll throw both of us out on our asses if we try.” He chuckled with a lightness he didn’t feel, and he saw Brennen return his same pained grimace of a smile.

“Okay,” Brennen said, gripping his arms tightly across his chest again. “Let’s go.” And Sam pulled the door open again.

The smell of heat hit almost immediately, and Sam had to pause in the hallway to regroup for just a moment. “Holy shit,” Sam muttered, focusing on Colby’s scent and how much he was _not_ going to fuck his best friend. “Okay, Brennen, you good?”

And when he turned to look, Brennen’s face was significantly more pained, but he nodded at Sam, his knuckles white where they gripped his arms. “I‘m good, dude,” He muttered. Sam hesitated a moment, but sighed internally. If Brennen lost control, Sam or Kat would throw him out.

Colby’s room was the next door down from Sam’s and the smell of omega heat was evident even with the door closed. Sam went to open the door, not terribly surprised to find it locked. “Kat?” He called from outside. “You in there?”

“I’m here,” Kat answered, and he heard a groaned noise from Colby, “You under control?”

“I’m good.” Sam ignored the lurch in his gut at Colby’s groan, ignoring his fucking biology. God, sometimes he hated having presented as an Alpha. The being slightly stronger than his body might otherwise suggest and faster healing was nice, but this, his physiology demanding that he break into that room and fuck - _breed the omega_ \- Colby was fucking awful. “Brennen’s with me.”

He could almost sense Kat’s hesitance. “He’s under control?” She asked.

“I’m fine,” Brennen said, even as Sam could hear that he was saying it through his teeth.

“Tara, you think they’re okay?” At first, Sam was confused, and then he heard Tara’s voice come from over a phone speaker. God, at least someone was thinking rationally. Kat must have called their other omega friend for help.

“Just kick ‘em out if they get too knotheaded,” Tara responded and Sam winced. But he supposed the response was warranted. Tara had presented early, at seventeen and still in high school. Sam knew he and Brennen were the only Alphas Tara had ever trusted. And that was only as friends. Kat told him that Tara had admitted that she wouldn’t have dated Jake if he was an Alpha.

As a beta, he was safe.

Sam didn’t know how that story went in its entirety, but from the way Kat’s face had gone dark, Sam knew it wasn’t a light one.

“Okay,” Kat said, and her voice still sounded uneasy, but he heard Colby’s voice.

“They’re good, Kat…” It was raspy and definitely struggling, but it was still Colby. Sam watched Brennen stiffen at Colby’s voice, gripping his arms tighter.

“Okay, I’m opening the door.” Sam heard movement, and then Kat opened the door.

If Sam thought the smell had been intense in the hallway, it was so much stronger with the door open. Kat blocked the doorway with her body, waiting to see what the Alphas’ reaction would be to the increase in scent, and Sam swore he heard Brennen groan behind him. He couldn’t see Colby yet, and he focused on his girlfriend, looking up at him with determined eyes.

“Sam, Brennen, it’s Colby, control yourselves,” Kat said warningly, and if Sam didn’t know better he would swear his girlfriend was an Alpha by the command that leaked into her voice. But then, she had to deal with his pigheadedness, so he supposed she’d gotten used to it.

“I’m good,” Sam breathed out through a throat that had gone dry, stepping forward to try to distract his brain with the scent of his mate, who he loved very much. Kat let him nuzzle against her neck, scenting her, but he could tell her eyes were still on Brennen. Grounded by his mate, feeling her hand come up to grip against his mating mark, Sam turned back to Brennen. 

And fuck… if Sam thought he had been struggling that was nothing compared to the anguish on Brennen’s face. His fingernails had gripped into his arms to what had to be close to drawing blood, a dark look on his face that he seemed to be struggling to control. “You good?” Sam asked quietly, ready in an instant to tackle Brennen to the ground if he couldn’t control himself.

Brennen swallowed hard, but nodded. “I’m fine,” He choked out, and that was when Sam heard some sort of broken noise from Colby. Brennen’s whole face twisted up again, and he took a couple of deep breaths through his mouth. 

“Fuck…” Sam breathed. “Are you sure you’re gonna…”

“I need to see him,” Brennen said firmly, even if the words sounded like they were being scraped over broken glass. Sam heard Tara’s voice again, probably talking to Colby but most of his focus was still on Brennen. “I’m not going to rape him,” Brennen said, stronger this time, and Sam swore he could see blood welling under some of his nails. It would heal quickly, benefits of the Alpha biology, but it still made Sam wince.

“You don’t have to come in,” Kat reminded him lowly, and she seemed to be the only one who still had full control over herself. “You can go downstairs and…”

“No.” That was Colby’s voice, and Katrina peered around the door to look into the room. “I wanna, I want…” Sam heard a broken laugh, “Fuck, I don’t know what I want…”

“Nothing makes much sense during a heat,” Tara said comfortingly over the phone. “But they get better once you know what to expect.”

So this must be Colby’s first heat then. This must be him presenting. Fuck… Sam supposed Colby must just be a late bloomer. He’d heard of it happening of course, but… it was rare.

But then, when had Colby ever been normal?

Kat stepped back from the door, letting Sam enter slowly after her. Sam focused on his mate’s scent, ignoring the desperation and lust he could smell wafting off of Colby in waves. That was when he finally got a look at Colby.

Colby was curled into the corner of the room, gripping Kat’s phone in his hand, where Sam assumed they were FaceTiming Tara. Colby was only wearing gym shorts, but his body still seemed to be overheated, sweat rolling off of him in buckets and a red flush painted across his chest and neck, reaching up into his face. Colby met his eyes, pained as they were, and managed a wry smile. “Hey dude,” He rasped, “Guess I’m an omega, huh? Who’d’a fuckin’ thought?”

“Thought you weren’t gonna have a second gender, man,” Sam shook his head, “Was honestly a little jealous. The hormone cycles are fucking annoying.”

“Fuckin’ tell me about it…” Colby groaned, “It feels like my body’s on fucking _fire_ …” He shifted and then grimaced, “And everything’s _sticky_ …” Sam remembered the physiology class they’d had junior year, before most people started presenting. The details about male omegas being able to produce their own… _lubrication_ …

And then Sam heard another choking noise, and realized that Brennen had walked into the room behind him. Colby seemed to stiffen, his whole body shuddering as Sam watched him almost tilt his head to bare his neck for a bite. At least, that was what his Alpha saw. Sam swallowed hard and turned to Brennen, watching as he choked back what might have been a growl, digging into his arms before managing a, “Hey Colby.”

Colby seemed to realize what he was doing when Brennen spoke. He drew his knees into his chest, and Sam didn’t mention the wet spot he left on the wood floor. “Hey, dude,” Colby whispered back.

Now that they both were in Colby’s room, Kat moved back to Colby’s side, sitting down next to him and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He groaned, pressing his head into her neck and sniffing.

Sam was almost a little startled by the snarl that ripped out from his lungs as all his Alpha brain registered was an omega in heat making moves on his mate. Colby’s wide eyes flew back to Sam and Katrina snapped, “Sam, chill. The contact and scenting helps him.”

“If you can’t actually act on the heat hormones just body contact helps with the discomfort,” Tara said from over the phone. And Sam supposed she was probably right. Before he had broken down and begged Kat to let him fuck her during that first rut the cuddling had helped.

He had been so scared of his Alpha side back then. It had taken time, but Kat had shown him it was nothing to be feared, that _he_ was not to be feared, and that she did not need protecting. She had been the first one to claim him after their third rut together.

With difficulty, Sam swallowed the low growl that was still trying to roll from his lungs. “Sorry,” He muttered, scrubbing at his face. Stupid fucking physiology fucking with him. “I know you’re not… I know you wouldn’t…”

“I wouldn’t do that to you…” Colby said quietly, and then his eyes were pulled from Sam to somewhere behind Sam, where Sam could see them latch onto Brennen. He turned to see what Colby was looking at but missed it as Brennen pressed his hands into his eyes.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” Brennen muttered, “I just… fuck…” And when Sam watched Brennen lock eyes with Colby again, his eyes were dark with lust. “Fucking… I should… I should go…”

“No!” The volume in Colby’s voice surprised everyone, everyone turning to look at Colby. His cheeks seemed impossibly redder, but he muttered, “I don’t want you to leave.”

“Brennen, are you on birth control?” Tara’s question, seemingly out of nowhere, quickly silenced the room. Sam’s eyes darted between Colby and Brennen, watching as Brennen’s face flushed.

“I mean, uh… yeah…? Why?” He asked awkwardly, a hand lifting to rub the back of his neck. “Aren’t… aren’t most people?”

“Because Colby’s not on the right kind of birth control, I’m sure,” Tara said matter-of-factly, and Colby groaned, pressing his face into his knees. “And I’m pretty sure neither of you want him getting pregnant.”

“Wait, wait, wait…” Sam called, connecting the dots that Tara was laying out in front of them. “Tara, are you…”

Brennen said it first. “Wait, you want me to fuck Colby?”

Sam heard a mixed groan from Colby, one that sounded both embarrassed… and like someone had just put out a delicious meal in front of him and then told him not to eat it. In this case, the delicious meal was probably Brennen’s Alpha.

“I mean, it makes sense, right?” Tara said, “Colby needs to get fucked-” Colby let out another groan- “And Brennen clearly wants to fuck him.”

“I…” Brennen started talking like he was going to protest, but he lost the rest of the sentence. His eyes moved to Colby, and something passed between them. They both let out low growling moans at the same time, but Colby buried his face back in Kat’s neck and Brennen scratched hard on his arms, blood now evident on them. 

“Tara,” Sam said with warning, because he didn’t like this, didn’t like this one bit, but unlike Sam had expected, it was Brennen who turned down the idea.

“I can’t…” Brennen said tightly. “I can’t… Tara… he can’t say yes. He’s… he’s fucking in heat. I won’t…” His mouth worked, the agony the decision was causing him evident on his face. “I won’t…”

“Brennen…” And that was Colby’s voice, low and soaked in arousal. Kat had the hand not gripping the phone wrapped up in hers, and Sam watched her wince as Colby must have squeezed it. Colby was looking at Brennen, his eyes wet and blue and so fucking desperate. Sam smelled the pulse of _heatscent_ and the low groan Brennen made told him that Brennen had too. “Alpha…” And it was a fucking strange-ass word to come out of Colby’s mouth but Sam thought his biology might have entirely taken over at that point.

The strangled sound that came out of Brennen’s mouth was broken and desperate and Sam watched him take a few steps towards Colby. Sam was ready to pull him back because he didn’t like Tara’s idea either, knew that this was in no way truly consensual with the havoc their second genders were wreaking on their hormones, but Sam needn't have worried. Brennen let out a snarl, before he turned quickly on his heel and left the room.

Colby gasped in a huge breath, almost a sob, pulling his eyes from the door and pressing his face back into Kat. Shudders wracked his body, and Sam wanted to go over and help his best friend with the discomfort and borderline agony from arousal he knew he was feeling but… he didn’t trust his Alpha side not to try to take over and fuck Colby himself.

Colby just smelled so fucking desperate… shit… was that what he smelled like during his ruts?

“Alright, well, I guess Jake and I will be there with the toys soon,” Tara said over the phone, and there was worry in her voice. Worry and resignation. “I’m sorry, Colby, I tried.”

Sam frowned. _Tried? Tried what?_

“It’s okay…” Colby whispered. “He… I kinda figured he wouldn’t go for it…” He pulled in a big breath of Katrina’s neck before he turned to look at Sam. “I’m uh… I’m gonna go try to uh… fuck myself, I guess, okay?” His tired voice was a mockery of teasing, and Sam’s heart ached for Colby.

His heart and his dick.

God fucking damn Alpha hormones.

“Okay,” Sam nodded, shoving his initial thoughts of offering to help out of the way. “I’m gonna, uh…” He looked at the door, because he loved Colby, but this was getting to be a lot for even _his_ control.

“You’re good,” Colby promised, pressing a hand hard against his face. “Just uh… tell Brennen it’s okay, okay? I’ll uh… I’ll figure this out…” He tried and failed at a reassuring look.

Sam nodded, looking at Kat, praying that she would understand that he _needed_ to _go_. She did. Of course she did. She was his mate. “I’ll take care of him, okay? Until Tara and Jake get here,” She promised, and Sam nodded.

“Thank you,” Sam muttered, and quickly left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. I finally caved. Here I am, writing an a/b/o fic.
> 
> If I wasn't going to FanFiction hell, I am now.
> 
> I've been trying to write Sam and Katrina's relationship as the main POV relationship for a fucking while, but I could never find the right inspiration for it. Turns out the answer is always kink.
> 
> This one just happens to be a/b/o kink.
> 
> This is my first time writing anything of the sort, so I'm still kinda trying to come up with how this universe works. Bear with me while I play around. I'll try to keep it making sense.
> 
> Also this started as a short scene I had in my head and now it's gonna have multiple chapters. Isn't that just my life?
> 
> As always, hope you guys enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next one!


	2. Chapter 2

Sam found Brennen in the backyard. He’d shed his clothes in a trail of casualties and jumped directly into the pool. Brennen resurfaced from his most recent dunking just as Sam made it out to the edge of the pool. There was still color high in his cheeks, but he seemed more with it. Sam was grateful for that. “Hey,” Sam said by way of greeting, settling down at the pool edge, puling his jeans up, and kicking his feet in.

“Yo,” Brennen said, treading water and taking deep breaths. He sniffed in through his nose, grimaced, and splashed water over his face. “Fuck, I swear his fucking scent is stuck in my nose, I can’t get rid of it…”. He dunked his head back under the water.

Sam sighed, taking a couple of deep breaths of the humid outside air. He thought he could still smell Colby, even all the way out here. But then, that might just be Colby’s scent settled over the back porch. Not this new… omega heat scent.

_God, Colby was an omega…_

“He okay?” Brennen asked quietly, when he surfaced again. “I felt bad to run out of there but… fuck, if I stayed in that room for one more second…”

“I fucking get that. Shit, those omega pheromones…” Sam groaned, pressing his face into his hands. He’d thought that not jumping Kat during his ruts was hard. Smelling that fucking omega heat scent… “Shit, Brennen, that sucked for me and I’m fucking mated. I don’t… shit…” He sighed, “I don’t know how you did it but I am so fucking glad you had enough control to not jump him. Just fucking…” He shook his head, running his hands through his hair, “So glad you didn’t.”

“I wanted to…” Brennen shook his head, punching the water, “My fucking Alpha was just like, “You can fucking do it. He’s right there!”” Brennen let out a noise of frustration. “God, I sound like a fucking knothead…” 

“I mean, I’d be lying if I said the same thought didn’t go through my head,” Sam said woefully, and he knew it was his physiology, his second gender, but he still felt awful to admit it when Katrina was still upstairs helping Colby.

He’d have to talk to her about this later.

“Shit…” Brennen muttered, staring at the water. A thought seemed to occur to him and he looked at Sam, “Dude, what the fuck was up with Tara asking if I would fuck him?”

Sam had almost forgotten about that, “Oh fuck, yeah…” His brain turned back to that strange conversation. “It was really weird,” He agreed, "And Tara’s like super Omega Power, Like, “I don’t need no Alpha” shit. I would have thought…” He shook his head. “Would have thought she would be the last person to suggest he grab the nearest unpaired Alpha.”

Brennen looked pained, but he agreed. “Same,” As the only omega in their friend group, Tara was almost fiercely defensive of her second gender and her insistence that it didn’t matter that she was an omega.

The old ways of omega subjugation were very still alive in America, but things were getting better. Unfortunately, there were still asshole Alpha knotheads who thought they were entitled to any female or omega (especially omegas). And worse, the extremists who thought that breeding was all that omegas were good for.

And that was when Sam realized that this would be the reality that Colby would be facing. Because now Colby was an omega. And if Sam and Brennen had a hard time fighting off jumping him… Sam didn’t want him anywhere near anyone else who wouldn’t have the same moral qualms. Secondary genders weren’t a majority of the population, maybe thirty-five percent, but that was still a lot of people. And a lot of potential threats to Colby.

Fuck…

“I’d never actually smelled an omega in heat before…” Brennen admitted quietly. “I always thought the stories were exaggerated. Like, the effects they had on Alphas.”

“I’ve smelled Tara’s heat on Jake,” Sam said, thinking back. “And like, other traces of it in person-”

“-I mean same,” Brennen interjected, “But to like… actually be in the room with him…”

Sam nodded. “Like I didn’t expect to actually…”

“Want to fuck him?” Brennen didn’t look at him, but still finished his sentence.

Sam shook his head in disbelief. “Yeah,” He agreed quietly. “Shit…”

“He’s… he’s an omega…” Brennen said quietly, and somehow Sam pictured that Brennen was making the same realization that Sam had just had about the realities of being an omega in today’s world. A male one at that.

“Like, I still don’t vibe with like, people who use heat or ruts to rape people but…” Brennen grimaced, “I gotta say… I get it a little more.”

Sam cringed at the thought, but nodded at the truth. “Yeah…” He said faintly. “I uh… I’m so glad you said no.”

“I mean, it wasn’t…” Brennen flailed with the water a little bit. “He’s in heat. He fucking called me “Alpha”.” Sam shuddered. He remembered that. Brennen continued, “Colby’s not… he’s not that kinda guy. It was his fucking heat making him… It wouldn’t…” Brennen shook his head. “It would have been… so not consensual. And I wouldn’t do that to him.”

“I know, I know…” Sam said, and his brain was still turning over the fact that _Tara_ had asked Brennen to fuck Colby. “I wouldn’t have let you anyway.”

Brennen laughed darkly, a little bit unexpectedly, but looked away. “Thanks…” He murmured, tracing a hand over the water. He paused for a moment, and then asked, “Why _do_ you think Tara asked me?” His eyes were narrowed, and the way he was looking at Sam made Sam feel like Brennen thought he knew more than he was saying.

But Sam just shrugged, because he was just as in the dark as Brennen. “I mean, I know Colby’s never been super picky about genders but uh…” He looked at Brennen, “That’s about it. Maybe it was just like… a convenience thing? Since you were there and not mated.” Which still didn’t make sense, knowing how Tara felt about that.

And then that whole bit where Tara had apologized to Colby afterwards. It made Sam think _Tara_ might know more than she was letting on. But he wouldn’t mention that to Brennen for now. He’d just ask Colby about it once his heat let up.

“Damn…” Brennen muttered, and Sam wasn’t sure what to think about the look on Brennen’s face. Thoughtful, but… worried. And just a little bit suspicious.

“What’s up?”

Brennen looked at him, the look clearing somewhat. “What?”

Sam gestured at him, “The face. What’s up with the face?”

“Nothing’s up with my face. What’s up with your face?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why Colby likes you, sometimes,” He tried to keep his tone teasing, because there had been some real tension between Brennen and Sam once upon a time. Sam didn’t want Brennen to think he still harbored any of that hostility.

The statement seemed to hit Brennen wrong somehow though, and he looked away. “I don’t know either sometimes…” And shit, that was real vulnerability.

Sam felt guilt coat his insides, “Brennen, I didn’t mean that seriously.”

Brennen laughed briefly. His tone was still dark. “No, you’re good, bro.”

“I’m serious.”

“I know.” But Brennen’s voice was not convincing.

“Brennen…”

“Sam,” Brennen’s voice was tight, “Let it go, bro.”

Sam looked at Brennen for a moment, but then nodded. _Fuck…_ “Okay. I’m sorry.”

Brennen didn’t respond again, seeming lost in his thoughts.

Sam looked up at the sun, just starting to move from his peak in the sky. He pressed a hand into his face, taking a mental inventory. His dick finally seemed back under control from the assault of fucking pheromones and he could think of something besides grabbing the back of Colby’s neck and just… His dick throbbed again, and he decided a dunk in the pool probably wasn’t a bad move. “Hold on, I’m gonna go get towels. I think I need a dunk in the pool too.”

He’d just hold his breath stepping into the house.

 _Fuck…_ the house was going to smell like fucking omega in heat for the rest of the week. Sam groaned. He’d have to stay with Kat.

“Cool,” Brennen threw him a thumbs up, diving back under the water. Sam groaned. Fuck, how did he always manage to fuck up with Brennen?

Jake walked past him on his way to the towel closet, heading out to the back porch as well. “Yo,” Jake greeted. Sam waved, trying very hard _not_ to breathe in any of the omega scent that filled the house. For a moment, Jake looked confused, eyes following him as he walked to the towel closet, grabbing three just to be sure. “Dude, what…”

Sam gestured up at the upstairs, encompassing the whole heat thing that was going on, and the confusion cleared. “Oh yeah, you’re an Alpha. I always forget.”

Sam threw Jake a confused and almost affronted look, but he was losing air too fast to confront him now, so he just hurried back outside. He let out the breath he had been holding with an explosive gasp, before he demanded of Jake, “The fuck do you mean you forget I’m an Alpha?”

Jake shrugged nonchalantly. “I dunno, I just don’t think of you as an Alpha. You don’t act like one.”

Sam let out a heavy breath through his nose. That was probably true, but he still felt like he should be feeling offended right now. “Brennen doesn’t act like an Alpha either,” He pointed out. “We’re not like, knotheaded assholes.”

Jake grinned a little bit at that. “Brennen kinda acts like an Alpha sometimes.”

“Hey, shut the fuck up, Jake,” Brennen hollered from the pool and Jake laughed. 

“Too easy, man,” Jake chided, his arms crossed lazily over his chest.

And the cloud from earlier seemed to have cleared from Brennen’s face with Jake’s arrival as Brennen swam over to hang out at the edge of the pool. “So, what’re you doing out here, anyway?” Sam let out a breath to himself, before realizing in his haste earlier he hadn't put on boxers. Eh, fuck it. Nothing they hadn't already seen. And he really needed to get the heat scent off of him. He started shucking his jeans off.

Jake cast a look around the yard, seeming to note the dress code and determine that he was wearing way too much clothing. “Got kicked out,” He said, starting to undress as well. “Tara said omegas and female betas only.” He let out a dramatic long suffering sigh. “And what Tara says, goes.” There was an affectionate grin on his face.

Sam bit the inside of his lip, running through that in his head. Sure, yeah, whatever. That mix of bodies and genders would probably make Colby the most comfortable anyway. No one with penetrating anatomy allowed. “How does Tara usually get through her heats?” Sam asked Jake, wading into the pool as Jake continued undressing.

Jake shrugged, “Ya know, with me.” There was a teasing light in his eyes but that was all that he said. And that was one thing that Sam always admired about Jake. Despite being crass in most situations he wasn’t the type to just talk about he and Tara’s sex life that way.

Unless he was drunk. Then all bets were off.

“You can last that long?” Brennen asked, “Didn’t know betas could keep up with a heat.”

Jake winced, laughing a little and rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah… not usually,” He said, “The fucking pheromones help, but after a point she’s got like… toys. And I usually just kiss her ‘cause fuck…” He chuckled again. “There’s only so much I can do. I’m no fucking Alpha.” And with that he jumped fully naked into the pool.

“I remember learning about that at some point,” Sam said, looking at Brennen, “That only Alphas and omegas can keep up with each other’s hormone cycles.”

“Kat have issues keeping up with you?” Brennen asked, teasing in his eyes.

Sam rolled his eyes, but shrugged, “Depends on the rut,” He said honestly. “Sometimes they only last a day or two, and she uh…” He could feel the resurgence of heat in his face. “She doesn’t have any issues with that. It’s the really rough three or four days ones where we kinda have to like, improvise.”

“Is that where Kat brings out the handcuffs?” Jake asked bluntly, and while Jake had discretion with his own sex life he in no way had it with anyone else’s. Sam flashed him the bird and ducked under the water to dodge the laughing from Jake and Brennen.

The use of the handcuffs had mostly evolved out of necessity. Kat was no omega, and her body got… _sore_ , after a day or two of consistent fucking. Ruts were one of the few times when Sam’s Alpha actually lived up to its stereotype, more than willing to pin Kat down to the bed and fuck her to screaming. The handcuffs (or if he was being honest, they were really more padded shackles because he was way too strong for normal handcuffs) were a way for her to slow down, take a breath, and prevent his hormones from taking over.

Because once Sam had started allowing his Alpha to come out, it didn’t like to go away.

Of course, then Sam and Kat had decided they actually liked them and the shackles made appearances outside of his ruts. But it didn’t mean his friends didn’t still give him shit about it.

When he surfaced, Brennen had already launched into a “this one time” story about some beta girl he had apparently been with during a rut and how she could “go for days” while Jake climbed the rocks of the pool to get to the slide. Sam just grinned, watching their antics.

Then he remembered Colby. He turned his head back up to the house, hoping Colby was doing okay.

If his heats were anything like Sam’s ruts, he was sure he was not having a good time...

OOO

Colby wanted to crawl out of his skin. That was the first sensation he remembered registering when he woke up. His skin felt too tight, too restricting. His entire abdomen was still sore, as it had been for the past few days. Today felt worse though. Everything… everything was hot and sticky, and he remembered waking up to bedsheets that had been completely soaked.

Of course, he’d just assumed he’d peed in his sleep somehow, or spilled some water, because who the fuck… who the fuck presents as an omega at twenty-three? So he’d stripped his bed, ignoring the slick, wet texture of the fluid covering his bed and his groin because it wasn’t real in his head. The fact that he could be an omega, could be producing _slick_ didn’t even cross his mind as a possibility.

And then, of course, the day went on and it got worse. Colby was tight, Motrin not helping the aching in his stomach. He was confused as shit, because what he knew were friendly touches from his roommates were making him horny as hell. It was especially bad from Sam, his warm, protective Alpha scent rolling over Colby and making him want to nuzzle into Sam's neck.

Or kneel at his feet.

That was probably what finally gave him the inkling of what might be going on. Because yeah, Sam smelled like Alpha. Sam always smelled like Alpha, had since they were nineteen and he presented, but never had Colby fucking smelled Sam and gotten hard.

And wet.

Because apparently that was a thing now.

And when he was changing his underwear again, he took in the texture of the slick that coated his underwear and groin. And then it clicked.

And Colby immediately called Tara.

Tara was very vocal about omega activism on her channel. The tiny omega had come out on her channel pretty early in their friendship, but it had never affected their relationship. If anything, it had seemed to strengthen it. They’d just vibed, worked, and Colby hadn’t thought anything else about it.

Until now.

“You feel hot, like you have a fever?” Tara was listing symptoms over the phone. “Irritable, uncomfortable, like you wanna crawl out of your skin?”

“Tara, I’m literally leaking, so unless my shit changed a fuck ton, I’m making slick,” Colby retorted tightly into the phone, keeping his voice low so that his roommates wouldn’t hear him.

“So that’s a yes on the irritable,” Tara said, and Colby rolled his eyes. 

“Tara, I’m basically going through a second fucking puberty,” Colby growled, “I’m allowed to be a little irritable. My stomach fucking hurts...”

“Colby, it’s gonna be okay,” Tara said firmly. “It’s gonna suck for a few days while your body rearranges, but…” 

Colby’s stomach twisted. “I’m sorry, what?” He vaguely remembered something from health class, but it wasn’t much.

“You don’t remember that?” She asked, seeming surprised.

“Remember what?” Colby groaned, sick of not understanding what was going on with his body.

He could hear Tara typing on something. “Uh… the whole vestigial uterus thing not being vestigial in male omegas?”

“English, Tara.” Tara did a decent amount of education on her channel, and actually knew the fancy words for what was going on. Colby did not.

“You’re growing a uterus,” Tara said bluntly, “Well, kinda getting an old evolutionary one up and running. You’ve been having stomach pain, right?”

“Yeah,” Colby grumbled, as another cramp twisted though his abdomen. _Ow…_

“Well, that’s what’s happening. Your body is uh… making it so you can get pregnant?”

Colby groaned. “Fucking fantastic. One more fucking thing.”

“If it makes you feel any better, female alphas basically grow a dick during their first rut.” Tara seemed to be trying to help, but being reminded of that part of biology class wasn’t exactly helpful at the moment.

“It doesn’t.”

Tara sighed. “I’m sorry, Colby…” She was quiet for a few moments, before she asked, “Sam still acting normal around you?”

Colby examined their interactions this morning, and couldn’t find anything off with them so he answered, “Uh… yeah? I mean, he smells really good, but he doesn’t know I think that…”

“Okay, okay…” Tara said, sounding relieved. “So it hasn’t really kicked in yet.”

“It’s going to get worse?” Colby demanded. “Tara, what the fuck, I am way too old to be presenting as an omega!” He tried not to let the panic leak into his voice too much, but by Tara’s response he clearly wasn’t too successful.

“There are a few cases,” Tara’s voice sounded like she was trying for comfort, but Colby was honestly so overwhelmed it didn’t do much. “Colby, you’re going to be fine. Just like… avoid Sam for a little bit. If he smells you once you’ve really gone into it…”

“But it’s Sam,” Colby protested, ”He wouldn’t… He’s my best friend.” Tara didn’t respond immediately, and he felt anxiety sit like a frozen lump in his stomach. “Right?”

Tara was quiet for a moment, before she took a deep breath and said, “Heat hormones are fucking powerful,” Her voice was serious. “Just… don’t be alone with any Alphas for a few days, okay? Betas aren’t as affected but Alphas…” And then Colby heard a knock at the door and felt a buzz of his phone. “What was that?” Tara asked.

Colby pulled his phone from his ear to see a text message from Brennen. Instead of excitement, the text caused a new lick of anxiety up his spine. “I suppose now would be a bad time to hang out with Brennen…?”

“I mean… unless you want him to fuck you through your heat?”

“Tara!” And Colby usually appreciated her bluntness but sometimes it shocked the hell out of him. “What the fuck?”

“I mean, I wouldn’t usually suggest just pairing for a heat,” He could hear the shrug in her voice, “But uh… you two are already so close that…”

“Uh…” And though some part of Colby’s omega gender was not unopposed to the idea, his human side very much was confused by that because he and Brennen were just friends, right? “We’re just… we’re just hanging out? Should we not?”

"You can't smell it?"

And that was a weird, fucking question, and Colby found himself pausing for a moment at the non-sequitur. "Uh... what should I be smelling?"

"Huh. Nevermind," Tara brushed it off, “Anyway, I’m not going to tell you what to do,” She said, “If I were you, I’d just try to avoid being around Alphas in general until after the heat lets up. The first one is the worst because of all the new hormones.” Colby heard muffled voices, one of them Jake’s, and then Tara said, “Hey, I have to go. Call me if you need me, okay?”

“Don’t tell Jake?” Colby asked, and he was almost surprised when the plea slipped out. Because it was stupid, and he’d have to tell Jake before too long but for now… he didn’t want anything to change.

The softness in Tara’s voice told him she got it. “Our secret,” She promised.

So of course it would be his untimely hang out with Brennen that triggered the worst of the heat. He’d been aware of Brennen’s second gender, tried to keep separate, keep Brennen from figuring it out, but… it turned out his evasiveness just made things worse.

Brennen had never been one to let him get away with things, so Colby shouldn’t have been surprised when Brennen ended up playfully tackling him to the ground for hiding his text conversation with Tara. The ground was hard, and Brennen’s grip on his wrists was tight, but those sensations were nothing new. What he didn’t expect was how his new physiology would react to the pin. Colby felt his body explode into lust at being pinned by an Alpha, slick soaking his pants, sweat breaking out on his body and even _he_ could immediately smell how his scent changed. Brennen must have smelled it too, because Brennen froze on top of him, a growl pressing out from his lips.

For a moment, their eyes were joined. Colby’s newly formed omega burst with joy and hormones, scenting the lust that had started seeping from Brennen, and it was a different kind of smell than the pleasant one he had smelled from Sam earlier. Brennen smelled fucking delicious, and Colby found himself licking his lips. Brennen almost seemed to subconsciously be showing his teeth, clearly reacting to Colby’s heat. A whine curled out of Colby's throat, and he tilted his head, almost as if Brennen might want to bite into his neck.

“Alpha…” He found himself breathing.

Brennen swallowed, then breathed back, “Omega…”

There was something rumbling in his chest, a low, keening noise, and he could hear a similar growl coming from Brennen. Colby’s body pressed up against Brennen’s body on top of him, his cock hard and begging for the Alpha, and he could feel that Brennen was hard in his pants too.

_Fuck me, breed me, take me, Alpha!_

He wasn’t sure if those thoughts stayed in his head or if he spoke them out loud, but either way Brennen suddenly broke from him. He stumbled back, eyes wide, sweat breaking out on his face and eyes dilated with lust so potent it made Colby groan. “You’re an omega,” He gasped. “Fuck, you’re…” He gripped his hands into his hair. “You’re… I’m so sorry…” And he took off out the door.

Colby’s instincts immediately mourned the loss of Alpha on top of him, while his human side finally got the chance to claw up through the hormones pouring through his bloodstream. He was panting, he realized that now, gasping in air with his hands shaking. He picked his arms up off the floor, pulling them into his chest. His whole body was tingling, but he realized he could still feel where Brennen had gripped his wrists, the skin burning just a little bit more.

“Fuck…” He whispered, “Fuck…” He sat up and pushed himself into a corner, pulling his knees in and pressing his hands into his hair. “Fuck…”

What the hell had just happened?

“You doing okay?” Kat murmured to him. His head was still tucked into her neck, scenting her, his best friend’s mate, the only thing taking any edge off of the fiery lust and pain pulsing through him.

“Been better…” He said roughly, fidgeting with his hands. He wanted to go after Sam, after Brennen, he wanted to chase them down and beg them to fuck him, anything to take away this feeling.

But that would be bad for human Colby, no matter what his omega side wanted.

Tara was digging through a huge bag she carried in with her. She’d not wanted Jake to come in with her, and Colby was grateful. He didn’t need another one of his friends to see him like this.

Seeing Sam and Brennen like that, both of them so conflicted as their Alpha sides were clearly demanding they fucking jump him… it made Colby’s chest tight. His human side hated it, hated that they both had a hard time even being in the same room as him because of his pheromones. And to make it worse, this new omega part of him immediately wanted to bend over for both of them, regardless of his audience.

Anything to get him fucked faster.

The urge had grown as the Alphas lingered in the room because he could fucking smell how much the Alphas wanted him. They were both clearly trying to control themselves, and Colby knew the human side of both of them had no interest in him. The Alpha side… clearly only smelled omega heat. And then Tara had brought up the idea of Brennen fucking him.

And Colby could smell the pheromones that had come from Brennen at that statement, knew he’d wanted it. Want and lust and… something sweeter that tasted… like regret? But the lust and want were the only things that the omega brain registered, immediately on board with Tara, even as his human side rebuked the idea.

God, the way the plea for the Alpha had left his mouth…

And the worst part was that Colby knew that he would have enjoyed it. Everything in his body was screaming for it, for cock, for Alpha, to be used and bred and _fucked_ … But he also knew that the moment his new gender was no longer in control, they would all regret it.

So in the end, it was probably better that Brennen turned him down.

“Why did you ask Brennen to fuck me?” And it came out somewhat rough, as everything in his new hormones demanded they cut the talking and get to the fucking. But he was going to try, dammit, because that was kinda a big thing Tara had just offered. To Brennen, no less.

“Thought it might work,” Tara said, still digging, not looking at him.

“Work for what? The heat?”

“Yeah,” Tara said, but she sounded distracted. Colby was going to press her for more, but she turned to him and said, “Try this,” Dropping a big, pink dildo in his lap. Colby yelped and jumped in surprise. 

“What the fuck…” It was easier to think with the Alphas out of the room but Colby was still caught off guard by the massive toy.

“It’s a dildo,” Tara said, and had Colby been a little more sane he might have rolled his eyes at her. She picked it up again and pointed at a button at the bottom. “That button lets it knot you.”

God, how could Tara be so nonchalant about this? She was literally talking about… but Colby’s omega side had no room for being self conscious, and Colby felt more viscous material leak from him as his biology reacted to the idea of being fucked and knotted… “Oh.”

Tara pressed the button, watching as a knot started swelling at the base of the dildo with a whirling, mechanical sound. “See?” She seemed pretty pleased, even if Colby was so badly conflicted about how he should be feeling right now.

“Uh…” Colby swallowed, “What do I… What do I do with it?”

Tara gave him a look of exasperation, “Do you really need me to spell it out for you?” She asked, cocking an eyebrow, and Colby groaned, because he really didn’t want her to.

“Tara…”

“It’s completely normal, Colby,” Tara promised, dropping to her knees next to him. “It uh… it really will get better after a couple of orgasms.”

Colby cringed, looking at the size of the toy. “I’m supposed… you want me to use that on myself?” Looking at it closer, he could see that it was sparkling. Of fucking course it sparkled. Tara bought it.

“It’ll work better,” Tara explained. “If you’re gonna try to jack off without the penetration… you’re not going to get anywhere.” She looked reluctant to tell him that, but still did. “Your body uh… wants to get pregnant. Can’t do that without penetration.”

“But I… I mean, can I even get pregnant right now?” Colby asked, “I mean… I just fucking presented?” That thought was somehow incredibly alarming to him, making him feel all sorts of weird things about the body he’d been so comfortable in a week ago.

Tara shrugged again, “I’ve seen some cases where male omegas can get pregnant off their first heat, and some cases where they can’t. So I would just go forward like you could?”

Colby groaned again. “Tara, this fucking sucks.” He’d have to switch birth controls, he’d have to figure out what rhythm his heats came in so he could avoid his best friends when it did, have to plan conventions and tours around them, just… “Fuck…” He whispered again. And maybe it was all the hormones but tears were prickling at his eyes now.

“Colby…” Kat had fallen back to his side with a wet towel, and Colby shuddered with an embarrassing moan as she wiped at the sweat on his chest. The skin was fucking sensitive, and any touch was setting off his omega right now. Fortunately, Kat didn’t seem too jarred, and Colby wondered if this was how ruts were for Sam. 

“Is this how Sam gets during his cycles?” Colby asked, focusing on not moaning again. “‘Cause this fucking sucks.”

“Kinda?” Kat said, wiping at his forehead before passing him the towel. “We know better what he needs now… but before we figured it out… yeah, he’d get like this.” Colby wiped the rest of himself down before shoving the towel between his legs where he couldn’t seem to get the slick under control.

And he’d never gotten fucked in the ass before but he really, really was starting to eye that dildo in a considering way. Because something in his omega biology demanded to be penetrated, filled, stretched on an Alpha’s knot… God, the rush at the idea was so intense it was painful.

Colby let out a broken gasp at the rush of hormones, feeling Tara’s hand on his shoulder. “Colby, why don’t you go to the bathroom and uh… take care of yourself a few times…” Tara said. “Kat and I will clean up in here.”

Colby shuddered, “You don’t have to, that’s gross…”

“Colby,” Tara cut him off firmly. He found her eyes, trying to find some sort of guidance in the confusion that was his body right now. “Go.” And she pointed to the bathroom.

Colby groaned at the idea, but with Kat’s help, he was able to find his feet and pad obediently to the bathroom. Where he was apparently going to fuck himself with a big, pink, sparkly dildo.

Fucking hormones...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there was a whole opening scene to this chapter originally exploring one of Sam and Kat’s first times with the Sam’s ruts, but I didn’t feel like it fit with the vibes of this piece...
> 
> So you guys get a whole separate piece with that once I have more of it. So look forward to that.
> 
> I have no idea where I’m going with this, I have a few loose ideas but I’m really more playing this by ear and just world building right now. Updates should stay at least weekly for now.
> 
> Hope everyone’s enjoying, let me know what you think, and I will see you in the next one!


	3. Chapter 3

After the pool dunk, Sam didn’t trust himself to stay at the trap house. It wasn’t really that he didn’t trust himself around Colby, more that he didn’t want to torture himself with that scent all night. Brennen had toweled off and gone home pretty soon after that as well, going out the side of the house, also not trusting himself to go back inside.

“Yo, Brennen,” Sam caught Brennen’s gaze as his friend was heading to his car.

“Yo,” Brennen said, spreading his arms. “What’s up?”

“You good?” Sam asked, because Brennen felt off. And Brennen wasn’t his best friend by any stretch, he was Colby’s, but they’d all kinda been thrown a curve ball and he felt like he should probably check on the guy.

“Yeah, I’m cool,” Brennen shrugged, like he didn’t have a care in the world. Except that Sam still felt like something was wrong.

“Cool,” Sam said, shifting on his feet, “Cause uh… if you weren’t, you know, cool… you can tell me, you know? Right?”

Brennen lifted an eyebrow at him. “Yeah, man. We’re chill.”

But Sam still felt like he wasn’t getting his point across, adding, “”Cause you know, that was uh… kinda intense…” Brennen didn’t respond, just staring at Sam. Sam groaned internally. Fuck, fuck, he was so bad at dealing with Brennen one-on-one. He didn’t know how Colby did it. “Just uh… talk to Colby when he’s with it again, okay? He’s gonna… he’s gonna be beating himself up about this and he doesn’t need...”

But Brennen’s face had twisted again and Sam’s chest turned icy because god fucking dammit he’d fucked up with Brennen again, hadn’t he? “Just…” He restarted but Brennen was already not paying attention.

“I’ll text him,” Brennen said shortly, and headed to his car.

“‘Kay…” Sam said faintly. And Sam didn’t have anything else to say as Brennen started to drive away, a pit in his gut.

God fucking dammit.

He sniffed in a quick breath and still swore he could smell omega heat in the air. Fuck, he needed to change. Good thing he kept clothes at Kat’s place…

And he tried to push Brennen from his mind.

It was several hours later when Katrina met him at her place.

When Kat got home, he basically threw himself at her. He figured she’d understand after being interrupted earlier and then the whole omega thing. Point was, he really, really needed her. He saw Kat register what his plan was, put her hands up to stop him, and it only took him a moment to realize why. Upon contact with her his nose was pretty much immediately filled with _hotneedy_ omega heatscent.

He groaned, the pheromones jumpstarting the system he had been working so hard to control. Sam jumped back, immediately regretting that decision as a fresh wave of lust burst through him. Kat grimaced at him, “I tried to stop you....” She shrugged, concern back on her face.

_Of course she fucking smelled like him, they’d been fucking cuddling..._

Sam shook his head, forcing the instincts from his mind. “Fuck, fuck… okay, I love you, but you gotta go shower.”

Kat laughed a little bit, moving quickly past him to the bathroom. “I’ll be quick,” She promised. “I’m fucking you after this, right?”

“Oh fuck yeah.”

Sam didn’t wait for Kat to come out of the shower. He heard the shower turn off and he was already through the door to the bathroom. Kat didn’t look too surprised to see him, just giving a hum of pleasure when he pressed against her from behind, her moist body dampening his clothes. “Hey, baby,” She murmured, toweling her hair dry.

Sam was already hardening, and he pressed his cock against the swell of her ass. He gripped into her hips, letting out a low growl as he pressed his face into her neck. She smelled better. Like body wash and Kat and _mate_ … “Babe, I…”

He saw a faint smile touch her lips in the mirror. She twined her fingers up into his hair, humming again and grinding back. “Whatever you need.”

Sam swallowed, lust pulsing through him. He nipped into her mating mark a little bit and Kat sighed, undulating against him. “I won’t hurt you,” He breathed against her neck, reassuring himself as much as her. They knew he wouldn’t but it was a promise he still felt like he needed to make. A promise he’d made to her the first time she’d seen his Alpha. “I won’t… but I need you…”. A bit of Alpha voice had come out in his tone, and Kat’s beta responded to it, shuddering against him and gripping tighter into his hair.

“I know you won’t,” Kat whispered back against him. “Do what you need Sam, I’m here, I’m here…”. And she gasped again because Sam’s fingers had slid between her legs and pressed against her clit, rolling the nerve bundle between his fingers. She whined back against him, and Sam bit into her neck. He felt Kat’s body sag against him, and Sam growled, other hand reaching up to grasp around her throat. 

He felt the lust puddle around them, between them. Katrina whimpered and rolled her hips. His fingers moved with purpose around her clit and between her folds. She shuddered as he worked her just the way she liked, getting her hot and wet for…

_His cock… his knot… god he was going to fill her up and fuck her so good..._

His cock throbbed in his pants, and he snarled. His body pushed up against her and he shoved her forward and into the bathroom counter. His wrist caught the brunt of the impact, but Kat still gasped at the rough handling. His fingers found her clit, stroking an apology into the sensitive skin. She whimpered back against him, not fighting against the teeth or hand at her neck and he hummed his satisfaction. He nibbled at her neck, pressing his fingers into her and feeling hot and wet around them. That was what seemed to break her. “God, please…” Kat whispered. “Sam, baby…”

Sam pulled her head back by the neck, a groan on his lips. “Gonna fuck you…” He rumbled out, the Alpha hormones pulsing with his heart rate. “Gonna fuck you, knot you, breed you…”

“Please…” Kat gasped back, gyrating her hips and pressing back against him. “Fuck, baby…”

“Bed,” Sam ordered, feeling the Alpha power coursing through him in his words. Kat obeyed him instantly. He knew it was partly the compulsion from the Alpha voice, but he knew she would have done it anyway. It wasn’t often his Alpha came out outside of ruts but when it did… God, the rush of Kat obeying him was so fucking good. 

_Because she wanted to. Because she got off on it as much as he did..._

“Hands and knees.”

He lost his shirt and jeans on the way over, pressing his naked cock against her body and gripping into her ass. Kat whined, thrusting back against him, “Baby…”

“Mate.” Sam growled, running his nails up and down her back, reaching forward to play with a nipple just so he could hear her soft noise of pleasure. “Mine.”

“Sam, baby…” Kat pushed back against him, moving her hips to slide his cock against her, trying to get it in… She made a disappointed noise each time she missed. Sam was a little busy tracing her body with his hands and getting his mouth up on her shoulders, but when she reached back to fit his cock against her properly, his Alpha noticed that. He grabbed the hair at the back of her neck and Kat’s hands dropped to support her. The grip wretched a sufficiently broken noise from her throat. She thrust back against him. “Baby…”

“Mine,” Sam snarled, one hand back on her clit, the other pushing her head into the bed. It pushed her ass up, and Sam was not complaining about the view that he got, her body trying to swallow his cock. “My mate. Mine.”

“Sam, Sam, Sam…” Kat pushed into his hand on her, urging him to keep going, “Baby, baby…”

“Mine…” And he was teasing his cock against her entrances, sliding between the folds and back out. She was soaked, and his fingers made easy swirling motions on her as his cock thrust back and forth. Heat boiled up inside of him. She was his. His mate. Claimed, his… “Mine.”

“Yours,” Kat agreed breathlessly, “Alpha, please…”

Lust burst through him at her words. Because that primal part of his mind where the Alpha resided couldn’t say no to that request. “Mine.” And Sam sunk into her.

Sam let out a satisfied growl at the sensation of her closing around him. Kat gasped, clawing at the bedsheets and moaning out the same breath. Some high pitched noise escaped her, and Sam felt her clench around him. She was warm and wet and fuck.. she was so hot… Kat whimpered and pushed back against him, trying to get more but Sam just pressed her head further into the bed, continuing his long, slow push. He let out a low growl of warning. He had control here.

Kat whimpered but assented, and the fight went out of her body. His Alpha let out a contented hum, pulling slowly back out before snapping back into her. She jolted, and moaned for more.

_My mate, mine..._

They’d started on hands and knees, but once Sam really got into it Kat ended up on her stomach, hands spread wide to brace herself against the headboard as he thrust into her. Hormones were roaring through his body, pulsing with his heartbeat and the snap of his hips. Kat cried out under him, head slightly to the side so that he could see pleasure all across her face. One of his fingers pulled harder on her hair, twisting her face further towards him so that he could watch her expression.

Her whimpers were increasing in pitch as he rubbed against her clit, a particularly firm stroke sending her gasping under him, her body pulsing around him. He kept up his thrusting movement as he pressed closer to his face, knowing the angle that would put his cock at, rubbing firmly against her g-spot. Kat let out another little cry, her eyes flying open to catch his.

God, but he loved looking at her like this, when her eyes got all dark and wet and begging… “Alpha…” She whimpered, and Sam’s Alpha snarled at the desperation in her voice. Because they didn’t always let their biologies take over, but it was always so fucking hot when they did.

She was his mate. His. And he’d make sure everyone who saw her, _smelled her,_ knew it,

“Come for me, mate, come for me,” Sam growled to her, and then he bit into their mating mark again as he kept pressure on her clit. Kat yelled, pulsing around him and arching against him as the combination of sensations and the direct order in Alpha voice sent her trembling into an orgasm.

“Mine.” Sam kept going, loving the sensation of her under him, around him, his Alpha preening at claiming and marking his mate. She was his, his mate. God, he loved her. Loved her so much. He freed his hand from her clit, gripping it into her hip. “Mine.”

“Yours,” Kat agreed breathlessly, “Yours, baby, yours.”

And his Alpha snarled its agreement, and then his body was shuddering, his cock was swelling, locking into Kat’s body and starting to catch. Kat whimpered out a noise as Sam’s thrusts turned rabbity quick, still seeking his pleasure within her as his knot continued to swell.

_He’d fill her, breed her, make her his..._

And with a snarl and tight grip on her hips his cock pulsed and swelled and he hit the edge, toppling over with a roar. Kat moaned as the knot stretched her wide, but then she was pushing back on him and Sam yanked on her hair hard, the Alpha pinning her down as he shoved in and came deep inside of her.

And Kat and Sam were both on birth control, but it pleased his Alpha somewhere that he might be getting her pregnant, giving her a baby, knotting her and locking his cum inside her body. There was a low rumbling growl still rolling from his throat and he licked around the skin of her neck, licking and kissing at the skin. He didn’t taste blood, just felt teeth impressions under his tongue.

“Mine…”

“Yours, baby,” Kat murmured, turning her head to kiss him gently where she could reach him. “Yours.”

Sam hummed, continuing to lick at the skin of her neck. It was warm and slightly salty tasting under his tongue. She’d probably have to shower again. That was fine. He’d join her this time. “Mine…”

Kat hummed a pleased noise, turning to look at him. That was when Kat shot him a mischievous look.

And clenched.

Sam gasped, because _fuck,_ that was sensitive. Now that his Alpha had been satisfied it was just Sam in his body. “Babe…”

She grinned. “Sensitive?”

“God, Kat…” She knew he was. Always was after sex unless it was during his ruts. She shifted under him, pulling against him so that the warmth of her tightened around his knot. He let out some sort of almost overwhelmed whine, “Kat, baby…”

“Roll onto your back,” She looked up to him to murmur, “I wanna ride your knot.”

And for the life of him, he couldn’t say no to that.

And it was after another orgasm for her, and an extended intense sort of pleasure pain for him (that he still loved every second of) that his knot finally went down. They were finally able to separate, but they still ended up tucked up in the blankets together. Kat’s head was resting on his chest, tucked into his side, his arm around her shoulders. She scratched lightly over his chest. Sam hummed a contented noise, looking down at his mate lovingly.

She smiled up at him. “Feeling better?” She asked.

He nodded. “Much. Fuck, I needed that…” He kissed her forehead and she giggled.

“You went all Alpha on me,” Her grin was teasing, and Sam returned the look.

“Fuckin’ hot knotting you…” He murmured, tracing absently over her shoulder where he held her. Her skin was red from bite marks, but those would fade. The mating mark underneath did not. “Love that. Love how you ride it afterwards…”

“You’re hot when you go all Alpha,” Kat smiled, as the statement triggered a train of thought on the thing that he and Katrina still needed to talk about.

Colby.

Kat must have read his face though, because she asked, “So Colby?”

“Colby,” Sam agreed, groaning and resting his head back on the pillow. The weight of the rest of the day started to fall back over him. “Fuck, he’s…”

“He’s an omega,” Kat finished for him.

“Yeah,” Sam said quietly. “I’m just… still trying to figure out what that means…”

Kat shifted a little against him. “It means nothing,” Kat said firmly. “He’s not… he’s still him. He’s just going to go into heat every two or three months. Kinda like you.” She sounded almost defensive, and Sam realized what she thought he was trying to get at.

“But it’s not…” And Sam was still trying to figure out where the pit of worry in his gut was coming from. “Like I’m not going to treat him any different. I would never. But people suck, and like…”. He sighed, “Kat, my fandom changed when I came out as an Alpha, and that’s like, the least stigmatized second gender. And I mean, his scent is going to change, and even if he doesn’t tell people right away they’ll figure it out or it’ll leak, and like…” He twisted a few strands of his hair anxiously with his fingers.

Kat’s face was soft with understanding. “You’re worried about him.”

“Kat, do you know how high omega assault rates are?” Sam asked. It was a number he wished he didn’t know, but people Tara followed posted it on social media. So that meant Sam saw most of it too.

Kat nodded solemnly. “Tara’s talked about it.”

“That… he’s gonna have to deal with that now…” Sam said quietly, anxiety sinking like an icy anchor through his chest. “And that like, not even mentioning how fucking powerful those heat hormones are…”

“Was it… was it really that bad for you?” Kat asked, cutting him off a little bit. He looked at her, and she seemed a little off, but mostly just inquisitive. “I mean, you and Brennen…”

Sam paused for a moment, remembering the effect the pheromones had on him, how he’d literally had to repeatedly remind himself that it was _Colby_ making them. That it wasn’t his Alpha who controlled him. He swallowed through a dry throat, and nodded. “I didn’t know it would be that bad,” Sam said honestly, faintly, “I mean, I’d heard about it and read about it but I didn’t realize how much…” He gripped her a little tighter. “And I could tell it wasn’t as bad for me as it was for Brennen, because I had you, but I still wanted…”

“You wanted him?” Kat’s voice was a strange mixture of emotions, and when Sam looked at her, he saw her face mirrored it. Her bright eyes were open, and in them Sam could see her emotions; understanding but hurt, worried but resigned, forgiving but… accusing.

“It wasn’t like that…” Sam whispered, letting the memories come back over him. “I didn’t want _Colby_ , I wanted the _omega_ .” He could tell from her face that she was still uneasy about his response and he continued, “Like, the fucking pheromones, Kat, you have no idea. I didn’t…” He squeezed her to him, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I was like how I get during my ruts and I…” He lifted his hand from her so that he could squeeze it into a fist. “I felt like I didn’t have any fucking control. Like my Alpha just wanted to come out and…” _Rape him._ Still might have if it hadn’t been Colby, if Kat hadn’t been there, if he hadn’t been so focused on controlling Brennen…

And that part of himself terrified Sam.

Katrina nodded slowly. Her eyes moved back and forth, and Sam assumed she was processing her thoughts. “I thought it might have been something like that,” She said. “I mean… he smelled really good even to me.”

“He did?” Now that was a thing that Sam was curious about. What had Tara and Kat smelled?

She shrugged. “Yeah. But it was much more like…” She pursed her lips, then continued, “Like I needed to help him, and protect him but uh… one of those options was like fucking him?” She looked pensive, “Maybe because I couldn’t get him pregnant? Whereas you and Brennen could?”

And fuck was that a weird thought. Because while male pregnancies were not unheard of, male omegas were such a smaller percentage of secondary genders that Sam’s worldview still was catching on it.

Colby could get pregnant. That was a real thing he would have to worry about now.

“Yeah, maybe… but I think that all Alphas could, and uh… I guess male betas and omegas?”

And Jake popped into his head, and because of that and it’s resulting train of thought Sam let out a probably mood inappropriate snort. Kat looked bewildered until he explained, “Dude, could you imagine if like, Jake and Colby had kids?”

Kat paused for a moment, her face twitching weirdly. Sam was momentarily fearful he had said something wrong before she said, “Those would be some of the weirdest freaking kids…”

And then they were laughing, and Sam felt the tension of the previous conversation ease somewhat. Because they had both been on edge, and it had kinda been an intense day, but they were never good at staying too serious together for long.

“I love you,” Sam murmured to his mate, kissing the top of her head.

And Kat looked up at him and smiled, “Love you too, baby…”

“I just…” And Sam felt the smile slip from his face just a little bit. “I just worry about him.”

Kat kissed his chest where her head rested. “We’ll take care of him,” She promised. “He’ll be okay, Sam.”

Sam sighed, kissing her forehead again. “I know, it’s just… gonna be rough for a while, I think.”

Kat nodded, a considering look on her face. “As long as he knows we support him, and that this changes nothing, I think it’ll be okay,” She said evenly. And Sam wasn’t sure what to think about the tone of her voice. 

“Babe…” Sam said, not quite sure why but feeling a little attacked. “Nothing changes with him. He’s still… he’s still Colby. Just because he’s presented as omega…”

Kat nodded. “Nothing changes.” She agreed, and there was a promise in her voice. A promise that she wouldn’t let it.

And Sam still felt a little weird about their conversation, but he let it go.

_Nothing changes. Nothing..._

OOO

Colby got the first inkling that it might be over with he was able to wake up and lay in bed for a few moment without the immediate urge to fuck himself with that damned pink dildo. The dildo that, admittedly, had probably spent more time inside of him than outside of him over these past few days…

However long it had been.

He glanced at the dildo, making sure that the urge had, in fact, dissipated. He was beyond relieved that it had. He was so, so fucking tired of trying so desperately to get off that it eclipsed every other need. And, as Tara had said, his body refused to get off without the dildo knotting him, so that was great. He hoped that wasn’t a permanent thing. Would make sex with anyone but Alphas really disappointing going forward.

Unless he just used the fucking dildo...

His dick twitched, and he looked down at it absently. Then he felt the sheets, filthy and almost crusted under him and cringed. Okay, shower, maybe jack off and then…

Face his friends. See what damage had been done by him presenting as an omega. Not that he really thought that anything would be different but… Fuck, the way Sam and Brennen had been looking at him…

It made him understand the trepidation that Sam had been feeling when Colby had gotten home after Sam’s first rut had finally wrapped up. He’d seen the nerves in Sam’s face, done his best to assuage them. He thought it had gone pretty well, actually. Although this was definitely more nerve wracking, because instead of facing his best friend as a beta to an Alpha, now he’d presented as omega.

And although that shouldn’t change anything with Sam he was still terrified that it would.

And then there was Brennen, and he didn’t even know where to start with Brennen.

Because Brennen was his best friend outside of Sam, and Brennen had been an Alpha as long as Colby had known him, having presented before they met. But again… now Colby had presented as an omega, and he hadn’t missed the control Brennen had clearly been exerting over himself to resist jumping Colby. He was sure it was the Alpha hormones, reacting to his heat.

Still made him feel a little weird.

Especially as Tara had asked Brennen to fuck him.

Especially as Brennen had been on his mind during many of those heat induced orgasms... 

Yeah, he needed to talk to Tara about that.

Colby groaned, and shifted. His skin and the bedsheets under him felt like they were cracking with the dried remains of sweat and slick. Okay, fucking gross. Shower time.

He moved to his bathroom, legs and body still sore from the heat. God, how many times had he cum? He’d lost count somewhere around twenty. But when the water ran over him, and he used body wash to scrub the gross from his body, he noticed that his dick and ass weren’t sore, despite those two areas having been the focus for the last few days.

God, how long had it been?

He glanced down at his dick, rising now with a casual sort of boner, not the rock hard, throbbing ones he had come to expect. He felt a little stupid, but he grinned down at it. It was good to feel like he could anticipate what his stupid body was going to do. Because this body that he’d lived in for twenty-three years… suddenly felt foreign and unfamiliar to him.

He was an omega. He had a functioning uterus now. He could get pregnant if a guy or an Alpha fucked him in the ass. Like, what the fuck? And then there were so many other things that he knew came with this presentation, vulnerabilities and responses and fuck, he was going to have to tell the fans...

But he shook his head, shoving his face into the spray of the shower. He was _not_ going to think about that right now. Because this was the first time he had been lucid in a long fucking time and he was not going to waste it angsting about his new gender. He glanced down at his dick again, and it throbbed, as if in response.

Okay, time to find out if he still needed the penetration to get off.

And it was a languid slower and a blissfully short orgasm that thankfully required no penetration later that Colby found himself stepping outside of his room for the first time in… What day was it?

He glanced at his phone. Thursday. It was Thursday at 11:37am. He and Brennen had been planning to hang out on Saturday. Shit… he’d been out of it for that long? The stiffness in legs that had clearly not been doing any walking for the past few days confirmed it.

Fuck… okay, okay… time to see who was home.

He could hear talking from the kitchen as soon as he started down the stairs, and as he listened, he recognized Tara, Jake, and Corey’s voices. No Sam. No Brennen. Okay, okay, he could do this.

He padded in sweatpants and a hoodie out to the kitchen, because being any more uncovered felt just a little vulnerable with the lack of clothes he had been wearing for the last few days.

Tara was the first one to catch his eyes, and when the others noted the direction of her gaze, they fell silent too, their eyes on him. Colby swallowed anxiously. Fuck…. moment of truth.

Fortunately, Tara didn’t let it stay awkward for long. “Hey, Colby,” She waved an oversized hoodie at him (Jake’s he was sure). “Pizza?” And that’s when Colby noticed the pizza that sat open between them.

Colby’s stomach grumbled its interest before Colby could even fully register the question. And Tara giggled, before pointing at the pizza, “Eat, Colby. You have not been eating enough.”

“Have I even been eating?” Colby asked faintly, moving towards the table. He wasn’t even sure he remembered eating. He remembered something being left in his room, the hunger pains going away, but not what he ate or how much. God, the pizza smelled good. There was a scent he didn't quite recognize too, but he wasn't going to complain when there was pizza.

“I’ve been bringing you food,” Tara said, “Or sending it up with Corey or Jake. Food’s not exactly a priority during a heat, I get it.” She grinned at him.

“She doesn’t let me eat either, sometimes…” Jake stage whispered at him, shit-eating grin on his face.

Tara swatted at him. “Shut up.” And Jake laughed.

Colby pulled a piece of pizza from the pie and sat down at the remaining chair. He glances around the table, feeling a little bit awkward. “So, did I miss anything?”

“Jake pet the cat,” Corey said, and Colby’s eyes widened.

“Dude, no way!”

“Dude, way.” Jake confirmed, and Colby pushed pizza into his mouth as Jake regaled the group with the story of how he had finally managed to get close enough to their neighborhood cat to pet him. 

“So I got some bolognese right? And then I made a trail right up to me…” 

And it felt normal. And then the conversation migrated, and Corey talked about some tik tok ideas, and Tara talked about her upcoming video with Sugar, and Colby added in comments on all of them, and it was normal.

Like he hadn’t just presented as omega.

Like everything hadn’t just changed.

Like… fuck…

And as the food settled in his stomach and he settled in the chair, it started to hit him. Everything that he had been too overwhelmed or too horny to realize during his heat, the real repercussions of presenting as a male omega not only in his personal life, but in his professional life because part of that _was_ his personal life.

He… fuck… he really, really needed to talk to Tara.

And Sam.

And Brennen.

And make sure that he hadn’t fucked any of this up.

Tara seemed to catch onto his mood change first. “You good, Colby?” She asked, completely interrupting Corey’s story. And then everyone was looking at him and Colby sank back in his chair, the pizza sitting heavy in his stomach.

“What?” He asked, feeling defensive now.

“Can we have a moment?” Tara asked, looking at Corey and Jake. The two of them nodded, seeming to know what she meant. They started to get up.

“No, you guys don’t have to…” Colby tried to protest but Tara cut him off.

“Yes, they do,” Tara asserted firmly, leaving no room for argument. Jake kissed his mate before both he and Corey headed to the back porch. Colby watched them go with a certain amount of worry… and slowly growing anxiety as the realizations of his life slowly started to crash over him.

“Colby.” It was Tara’s voice, and he turned back to look at her. She had leaned forward over the table, resting her chin on her hands, steepled together.

Colby swallowed. “Yo.”

“You wanna talk about it?” She asked, and Colby found himself nodding before he was even aware of it.

“Yeah…” He confirmed, his mouth suddenly dry. “Yeah, I think I do.”

“Okay,” Tara smiled a soft, understanding kind of smile. “Hot chocolate and movie room?”

Colby found himself nodded. “That would… that would be good…” He murmured. 

Tara’s face was soft, and she met his eyes with reassurance in hers. “It’s gonna be okay, Colby. I promise.”

And Colby wasn’t sure if he believed her yet, but he nodded anyway. He had to believe her.

“Okay.”

OOO

“Colby’s heat is over,” Sam informed Katrina as he read off the text message. “He just texted me I can come home.”

Kat looked at him with worry. “Is he okay?”

But Sam shook his head, because he’d also read the text message from Tara. “I’m not sure…” He murmured, worry eating at his heart.

Tara’s text simply read, _I’m gonna need your help..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slowly starting to work out where the plot of this story is going. Slowly. May still completely change it.
> 
> This is gonna be one of my longer burn stories, I think, if I end up finishing it. I'm having weird feelings about it. I'm just not trying to pressure myself with a plot and let myself have fun with this world I've created.
> 
> Let me know what you guys think so far. You've been kinda quiet.
> 
> See you in the next one!


	4. Chapter 4

“So…” Tara started, once the two of them were cuddled up on the couches in the movie room. “What did you want to know?”

“I uh…” And now that they were here, Colby didn’t even know where to start. He just had so many questions because he was sure that about half of what he thought he knew about omegas was lies or exaggerations… He swallowed. “Uh…”

Tara’s face was soft with understanding. “Don’t know where to start?” She asked. She sipped some of her hot chocolate.

“Kinda…” Colby admitted, staring into his. A couple of marshmallows floated forlornly in the chocolate.

“‘Kay…” Tara nodded, “So, like, the beginning, I guess?” Colby shrugged, but nodded. Tara nodded back, taking a breath to start. “Okay, so, you uh… you know how Alphas and omegas came to be, right? Like, evolutionarily?”

Colby rolled his eyes, chuckling a little bit. He did remember that part. “Yeah. Humans just about went extinct because they sucked at making babies. Nature was like, here, let’s make some of the humans really horny so that they make babies.”

Tara snorted faintly, but nodded. “Yeah, basically. Humans, or at least our ancestors, back then were a lot more hermaphroditic, so...”

“Herma-fro-what?”

“Hermaphroditic,” Tara restated, clarifying the word without judgement. “Uh… having both sets of reproductive organs. It’s only been in the like, last hundred thousand years or so that we’ve really had such clear male and female primary genders.” She tapped her mug with her nails, “But that’s why everyone has both sets in utero, and why the secondary gender presentation can cause the testes to be active in female alphas, and uterus and ovaries to be active in male omegas.”

Colby pressed his free hand into his face. Now he really wished he’d paid more attention in biology. “So… what does that mean? For me, I mean.”

“Well,” Tara said, “How about uh... we start with the physical changes, and then we go from there?”

Colby just nodded, because that sounded like a good way to do it. The thing he was probably most actively freaking out about was how his body no longer felt like his own. Because yeah, maybe he’d always had the vestigial body parts but the fact that they worked now…

He felt like a stranger in his own body.

“Okay,” Tara said, nodding. She looked at his cup, then back at him. “Drink some of your hot chocolate, Colby.” Colby winced, but did as he was told. He barely tasted the sweet drink. “So uh, biggest thing,” Tara started, “You‘ve kinda got a functioning uterus now. That uh, usually gets fully up and running between the first and second heats in male omegas.”

“It might not be done yet?” Colby groaned, “Fuck, Tara, it felt like someone kicked me in the gut for a few days there and then uh…” Then he got too horny to really notice it.

Tara winced, but nodded. “Yeah, kinda sucks for you guys. Luckily the uterus is fully formed in my first puberty, so I didn’t have to deal with that.”

Colby cringed, absentmindedly taking another sip of his hot chocolate. “So uh… what else is different?”

“Your body’ll make slick now, when you’re aroused,” Tara said, and Colby felt heat flush his cheeks. “There’s some glands in your butt that do that now.” Colby groaned, because that was probably the thing he would have the hardest time with. He could ignore the uterus during his everyday life. Getting wet whenever he jacked off would be new and impossible to ignore.

“There are some hormone changes and uh… well, you know about heats,” Tara continued, shrugging. “They happen at about the same rate as Alphas ruts, so every eight to twelve weeks.”

Colby nodded, pushing the previous thought train from his mind. Yeah, he knew about ruts. He’d lived with Sam for four years after all. “Sam’s at about every three months these days,” Colby said, “He and Kat usually just go away for the weekend. Kinda sucked before they got regular though…” And then a sudden fear struck him, “Shit, how long is it going to take for me to get regular?” Because he’d need to be able to anticipate them, not just so he could plan his fucking life around them with tours and trips and shit but also…

So he didn’t end up alone somewhere with one of his Alpha friends…

Fuck…

Colby didn’t like the look on Tara’s face. “Uh… I think it was about a year before I could reliably predict mine?” Tara said, and Colby’s heart plummeted. “But to be fair,” Tara added quickly, “I presented really, really early and didn’t get on omega birth control right away. I think you will, so that’ll help.”

Oh fuck yeah, Colby was getting on birth control as soon as he could. He was absolutely not playing that game. “How old were you again?”

“Just turned seventeen,” And Tara’s tone was dark. “No one believed me, because female omega presentations aren’t as obvious as male omegas’ and the scent change hadn’t happened yet. Not the noticeable one, anyway. Everyone thought I was just being dramatic until uh…” She chuckled a little bit, but it was a twisted laugh. “They had to call security on one of the Alpha teachers who lost control on me.”

Colby hadn’t known that. “Shit…” Colby breathed, “Tara, I’m so sorry…” 

Tara shrugged. “At least everyone believed me then. I mean, she didn’t get to do anything to me and uh… I found out later she had been close to her rut but uh…” She took a long sip of her hot chocolate. “There’s a reason I don’t really trust Alphas,” She said lightly. “‘Cause like… she was the first one but she wasn’t the last.”

And Colby knew that, knew that was a reality omegas faced -that he would have to face- but he still felt like he had to jump to his Alpha friends’ defense. “But Sam and Brennen… they controlled themselves, even after…” Colby’s brain caught on that idea. “Even after you asked Brennen to fuck me.”

Tara nodded reluctantly, “Yeah. Yeah, they did.”

“Tara…” Colby asked, and maybe he should have led with this but now it was all that he could think about. “Tara, why did you ask Brennen to fuck me?”

And Tara sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I uh…”

“‘Cause you’ve always been super omega power so like…” He looked at her, “Why ask him.”

“I am, like, totally am, but uh…” She paused, swirling her hot chocolate for a moment before she asked, “Okay, so, like, you’ve heard that whole, “omegas have a really strong sense of smell” rumor, right?” Colby nodded, because he had. Had heard it used both in complementary ways and derogatory ways.

_ “Bet they use that nose to find the nearest Alpha in a rut so they can get fucked…” _

Colby cringed at the internal thought. If Tara noticed, she didn’t comment. But this felt super unrelated and Colby was confused. “But that does that have to do with-”

“I’m getting there,” Tara cut him off, waving a hand at him. She shrugged. “So, it’s partially right?” She said, “Like, I wouldn’t say that our sense of smell is stronger but uh… we’re better at picking up subtleties. Like uh… for example,” She gestured at him. “Like you and Sam.”

Colby’s eyebrows shot up, “I’m sorry, what?”

“Like you and Sam are best friends, right? Like you two just work. You’re like platonic soulmates.” Colby nodded, because they were, really. Colby had mistaken those feeling for romantic ones years ago, when they had first met, but between Sam only being romantically interested in females (not that there was anything wrong with that, it was technically more common to only be interested in one primary gender) and spending more time with the guy he would come to call his brother, he’d realized that while they were definitely soulmates of a type, they were meant to be like brothers, not anything more.

Tara continued. “So like, when I smell you two, you have the same sort of scent. Like, they’re different, obviously, but they hit the same notes and like, very obviously go together. Like your biologies are just meant to be together.”

Colby fidgeted with his hot chocolate for a moment, before he asked, “But like, platonically right?”

“Oh yeah,” Tara said firmly, nodding, “You two aren’t meant to be anything more than friends. I can tell that. It would smell different.”

And now Colby was curious. Because this was a thing he hadn’t known about Tara and now he was wondering what this had to do with Brennen. “So what do people smell like when they’re meant to be together? Like, romantically?”

“It’s like uh…” Tara seemed to be searching for words, “So like… it’s like their scents like, have the same notes but… there are different ones when they’re together. Like Sam and Kat, right?” Colby nodded, “It’s like, when they’re together, there’s this new scent that you don’t smell on either of them alone, but when they’re together, it’s there. And it probably got stronger when they claimed but I didn’t know them before they did.” 

“So you can smell soulmates?” And it sounded ridiculous when he said it out loud, but it was the only way he could think to phrase it.

Tara grinned faintly into her cup. “It’s not really a soulmate thing so much as a compatible biology thing, but uh… that’s kinda how I think of it,” She shrugged, “Why do you think so many omegas end up in marriage counselling? I mean, I think I’m especially good at it, but uh… it’s a thing for some of us.”

“Okay…” Colby said, because he believed Tara, but he would probably have to smell this for himself before he fully bought into it. “Could I smell it on you and Jake?” Maybe he already had. He remembered an unfamiliar scent while eating pizza earlier.

Tara shrugged, a brief expression of something conflicted passed over her face, but then it was gone. “Probably. We haven’t claimed yet, so it might not be as easy to pick out, but one of my friends says she can scent it.”

“Gotcha.” And Colby knew better than to bring up the question of why they hadn’t claimed, hadn’t participated in that exchange of blood and promises that bound one person to another forever. Because Jake’s voice got all sad whenever someone asked him about it and Colby knew it was because Tara didn’t want to yet.

And now that he was an omega too, he thought he could see her point of view just a little bit more. In a society that still sometimes treated omegas as less than human, Tara didn’t want to feel like she belonged to anyone.

At least, that was what Colby figured, because it was the feeling that was slowly settling in his heart too.

But then, that still didn’t answer his initial questions. “So, what does any of this have to do with Brennen?”

Tara hesitated, and she looked like she was gathering her words. Colby watched with his heart in his throat, his own hot chocolate almost forgotten in his hands. But Colby wasn’t stupid, and he drew some sort of connection from Tara’s previously explanation to the question he had asked.

“Brennen… he’s some sort of soulmate for me, isn’t he?”

And Tara looked at him, something in her eyes, and slowly nodded.

OOO

When Sam came home, it was quiet. The heat scent had dissipated from the trap house, and now it just smelled like their normal mix of scents. Sam swallowed nervously.

Where was Colby?

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long or go searching to find out. After a brief, indecisive pause in the foyer, he heard the door to the movie room open. Colby and Tara both emerged, and Sam’s heart broke just a little bit. He could see the worry drawn tight across Colby’s face, the hesitance of his movements.  _ God… _ Sam immediately moved towards his best friend. Without any hesitation, he wrapped his arms tightly around him.

Colby stiffened at first, seeming surprised. “Sam…?”

“Fuckin’ hug me, brother,” Sam grumbled, squeezing Colby tighter. A broken laugh escaped Colby’s throat, and Sam felt himself echo it as his arms came around to hug Sam back tightly. God, Colby was here and safe and he smelled… he smelled… He smelled Colby, the scent of his best friend, his brother, the guy he’d known for eight years, same as always. But underneath that, he could now smell the soft, distinctive smell of omega.

Shit… This was real.

Colby was the first one to break the embrace. Sam kept a hand on his shoulder, keeping contact with Colby as they looked at each other. “Hey,” Sam said quietly, letting Colby gather the thoughts he seemed to be trying to organize.

“Hey,” Colby said roughly, and there was nervousness and struggle on his features.

Sam squeezed his shoulder, meeting his eyes. “Nothing changes,” Sam promised, “Nothing. You’re still my brother and my best friend, okay?”

He watched Colby swallow nervously, “Okay…” He said faintly. But his scent and body language told Sam that he wasn’t totally convinced. Given how Sam responded to his heat, Sam wasn’t surprised, even as his chest hurt a little bit.

“Seriously,” Sam said, squeezing his shoulder again, “Okay?” And he tried to convey that with certainty. “You are my best friend, omega or beta, cross my fuckin’ heart, brother.”

And Colby looked at him, seeming to be searching for something in his eyes. Colby sniffed the air, scenting, before he finally seemed to allow himself a smile. “Thanks, dude.” He looked down at the ground, and there was a brief, quiet moment. Then there was a teasing grin looking sheepish on his face, “So uh… good news, I uh… I don’t want you to fuck me anymore.”

_ What the fuck?  _ The statement shocked a laugh out of Sam. “Well, that’s good,” Sam snorted, “Feeling’s mutual, bro.”

“Good, good,” Colby said, and Sam felt tension drain from his shoulders. Fuck, okay… Colby was going to joke about this. This was good. Colby making jokes and not being quiet was usually a good thing. “‘Cause that uh… that was weird.”

And Sam snorted again. “Yeah, tell me about it,” Sam rubbed the back of his neck, finally detaching from Colby. “Love you, man, but that was fuckin’ weird.”

Colby nodded, looking back towards Tara with an easier look. Colby reassured, Sam finally looked at Tara again, “Yo.”

“Hey,” Tara waved, approaching now. There was a slightly sour tang to her scent. Sam wrinkled his nose, curious as to what was causing the discomfort. “What’s up?”

“Just getting back home,” Sam said, “But uh… you knew that.” He looked between them. They were hiding something. “What’s going on?”

And Tara looked reluctant, but she answered anyway. “So… we need your help.”

Colby’s face twisted in discomfort, and Sam didn’t like that reaction at all. “With what?” Sam asked, his stomach tightening with worry.  _ He wasn’t going to like this, was he? _

Tara looked between Sam and Colby, ending on Sam. “So… as you probably know, omegas have uh… some physical triggers? Ones that make us go kinda submissive?” 

Yeah, Sam knew he wouldn’t like this conversation. Colby ran fingers through his hair, definitely avoiding his eyes again now. Sam just nodded his response to Tara’s question. “Yeah, I’d heard of that.” That was an understatement. It felt like it was all he’d seen in the media, Alphas and betas exploiting the submissive triggers of omegas for their own gain. Neck grabs, Alpha voice, it was all over TV, movies, and often romanticized. Especially in omega porn.

Which Sam now felt kinda guilty about having watched a good deal of...

“Obviously it’s technically illegal to actually use them on someone nonconsensually but uh…” And Tara laughed darkly, “Well, uh… people suck. And I don’t want him to end up feeling it for the first time in a shitty situation.”

Colby pursed his lips, seeming to echo her sentiments. “Thought it might make sense to ask you to uh… give me a preview you know?”

“What?” Sam didn’t like this, because this was  _ Colby _ , and he never wanted to take Colby’s free will from him. Which is what he understood using any of these would do. “I don’t… why do you want me to…” He looked at Tara. “Tara, what the fuck?”

“Because you’re an Alpha,” Tara stated plainly, and Sam tried hard not to take offense from the way she said ‘Alpha’. “Obviously only Alphas can Alpha voice, and uh…” She shuddered a little bit, “It’s hardest to fight any of it with Alphas.”

“You can fight it?” And that was something that Sam hadn’t known but something that he was so glad to learn.

Tara nodded. “It’s not easy, and it takes practice but uh… yeah. You can.” Sam felt like there was something that she was leaving out with that statement, but if Tara didn’t want to share then he wasn’t going to make her.

Sam looked at his omega friend, who still . “Colby… are you…?”

“I’m okay with it,” Colby said, and his voice was tight. “I really don’t like it but… Tara’s right. I can’t…” He shrugged. “I mean, I just picture cons and meet ups, and some fan overstepping once they know and uh…” He pressed his hands into his face with asigh. “I can’t be in that situation.”

“Yeah,” Sam said quietly, “That would be bad.” Sam might go back to jail for punching a fan. He looked back at Tara. “But like seriously, you can fight it? Why have I never heard of that?”

Tara rolled her eyes, crossing her arms, “Because it’s not sexy if the omega can fight back,” She retorted bluntly and Sam shuddered.

“Tara, I’m sorry…” And he wasn’t sure why he felt the need to apologize, maybe it was for the sins of others with his secondary gender, but Tara waved it off.

“You’re good, Sam,” She gave him a small smile. “I know you’re one of the good ones. Which is the only reason I’m going to let you do this. But uh…” She tucked her arms tighter around her body, “I’m still going to have Jake be there, in case I freak out. Because I’m going to have you Alpha voice me once, just so that Colby can see it can be fought.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Sam threw up his hands, “I am not… you want me to do  _ you _ ?”

“I want Colby to see it can be fought,” Tara said, her anxiety betrayed by the way she shifted on her feet. “I just might… panic, a little bit. I’ll probably be fine but uh… just in case.”

Sam looked between Tara and Colby, not liking this at all, but accepting why they were asking him to do this. “I still don’t like this,” He sad tightly.

“That’s fine,” Tara said, “You don’t have to like it, you just have to do it.”

And it was about ten minutes later that they were all gathered in Jake’s room. Colby hadn’t had a chance to clean his yet, and Tara worried that Sam’s room would smell too much like Alpha nest, and that this might make it harder for the two omegas to fight off the compulsions. Because  _ nest _ was a different sort of thing, a possessive claim to an area.

Sam’s Alpha protecting his nest would be hard to fight.

“Okay, Sam.” Tara held Jake’s hand, both of them sitting on the edge of Jake’s bed. Sam stood awkwardly by the door, feeling strangely uncomfortable for being in a room he had been in so many times. Colby stood by his side, seeming to also be feeling the strange tension. “So, I guess we start with the more physical triggers? If you guys are okay with it?”

“I am,” Colby said evenly, though Sam could still detect the worry in his voice, smell it on him. Sam swallowed. He just hoped he could keep from freaking anyone else out.

“So what… what do you want me to do?” Sam asked, flexing his hands.

“So… Jake?” Tara turned to look at Jake, and Sam could see a playful smile masking real trepidation.

Jake gave a crinkled sort of half smile. “Love you, babygirl,” He murmured, brushing a strand of hair behind Tara’s ear. 

“Love you too, baby,” Tara murmured back, and she leaned into him and closed her eyes as his fingers sank into the hair at the nape of her neck.

And then he must have pulled because Sam watched Tara’s mouth fall open on a gasp. But then, her eyes opened and she still met Jake’s eyes resolutely. “Stop,” She said, and Jake released her hair. She closed her eyes again, shook once, before looking back up at Sam and Colby. “That’s what I want you guys to try to do,” Tara said, “Sam, you pull on his hair. Colby, you tell him to stop.”

Sam blinked, because that seemed too easy. Way too fuckin’ easy. “That’s it?” Colby clarified.

Tara smirked a little bit. “It’s not as easy as it looks,” She said.

“I… ‘Kay…” Colby said, and he took a quick breath. “Okay, Sam, ready?”

“Ready,” Sam said. He stepped forward, meeting Colby’s eyes for a moment. He only saw resolve, so he lifted his arm and pressed his fingers into Colby’s hair.

At first, Colby just seemed to shiver, as if ticklish. His eyelids fluttered, and he pulled in air through parted lips. “You might wanna-” But Tara didn’t get to finish her sentence. Sam had already tightened his fist in the hair at the base of Colby’s neck and pulled.

And that was when Colby’s knees gave out. “Colby!” And Sam followed him down, releasing his hair and catching his shoulders as he landed hard on his knees. “Dude, you okay?”

But Colby didn’t even answer him at first, just panting shallowly through parted lips, hands resting on his knees. “Colby?” Sam asked again, “Colby, you with me?” He looked at Tara, “Tara, what the fuck?”

Tara grimaced, “Told you it wasn’t that easy.”

And Sam’s stomach plummeted. “I did that?” He demanded, “That’s what that actually does to omegas?”

“If we don’t know it’s coming or don’t know how to fight it,” Tara said solemnly.

Sam’s eyes flew between her and Colby. “How do I turn it off?”

Tara sighed, leaning her head into Jake’s shoulder. Jake wrapped an arm around her in response. “You can’t. He’ll uh… just kinda get a handle on himself at some point.”

“And what if he-”

“Sam?” That was Colby’s voice, and Sam’s eyes flew back to his best friend. Colby’s eyes were open, looking at Sam, and there was fear in his voice when he asked, “What… what the fuck... was that?” His voice was rough, his words gasped out through a throat gone raspy. 

Tara was the one to explain it. “That’s what happens when someone pulls one of those triggers on an omega and they don’t know how to fight it.”

“I…” Sam’s mouth moved soundlessly for a few beats. “The fuck?”

“What he said,” Colby pointed at Sam, still seeming to be getting his breath back. He went to stand up, but it looked like his legs weren’t ready to hold him yet, and he knelt again. “Tara… how the fuck do you fight that?”

Tara sighed, “Takes a lot of practice, and a lot of knowing what’s coming so you can mostly ignore your body’s reaction.”

Colby’s voice was small when he asked, “And how many of those trigger spots are there?”

Tara pursed her lips, then said, “More than you’d like, I’m sure.”

“Fuck, fuck…” Colby muttered, not looking at Sam, but he made it to his feet this time. “Fuck, okay…”. He looked up at Tara. “Then tell me what they are so I can start fighting them.”

Tara smiled then. “Of course.”

Hair pulling, throat grabs, tight grips to the wrists… one by one Sam watched as Tara pointed out things that would trigger that submissive response in Colby. They learned to sit down after the first one, but it was still off putting to watch Colby’s jaw go slack, his eyes glaze over, watch his best friend lose the ability to talk and… just defend himself, if Sam was being honest with his fears. Because all he could picture was someone taking advantage of one of these trigger points, not letting go and… Colby not being able to stop them from doing whatever they wanted.

And that scared the shit out of Sam.

“And there are probably more that are gonna be like, unique to you? But those are the main ones,” Tara still leaned against Jake, as she and Jake watched Colby try to come back from the latest throat grab.

Colby was still absentmindedly rubbing his throat. He looked terrified, and Sam knew it was because he had been unable to break from his omega reaction as long as Sam held pressure to his throat. He’d only started to come out of it when Sam moved his hand.

“How the fuck do you fight that, Tara?” Colby asked, and his voice was low. There was no joking in his tone and when Sam looked into his eyes, he saw honest to god fear.

Fuck…

“Practice,” Tara said, sounding like she wished she had a better answer, “I uh… I guess now would be a bad time to tell you Alpha voice is harder?”

“Jesus fucking Christ…” And Colby pressed his hands into his face. “Are you fucking kidding me?” That one came out muffled, but still clear.

“I wish I were?” Tara said. “This one… because this one goes back to so many evolutionary things. Like, back when humans moved in packs and there was only one Alpha per pack so…” She sighed, “It’s harder.” She looked at Sam. “You ready for this, Alpha?”

And Sam clenched his hands into fists. “I don’t like this,” He repeated.

Tara nodded. “I don’t either. So we’re even.”

Because yeah, Sam knew how to tap into his Alpha voice, but he’d only ever used it on Kat, and that had been so heavily negotiated between them that it was months before Sam was comfortable with it.

And Katrina was a beta. Katrina had already proved she could ignore him if she really wanted to.

Sam didn’t think that Colby and Tara could do the same.

“Okay.” Sam shuffled a little bit, trying to figure out what he would even ask Tara to do. “What do you want me to say?”

“Uh…” Tara picked at her nails, not meeting Sam’s eyes. “I dunno… tell me to come over there or something.”

“I… okay…” And Sam still didn’t like it, but Jake and Colby’s eyes were on him, so he sank into the part of him that spoke Alpha, the part he always tried so hard to control, and harnessed it. He could hear the power and deepness in his voice when he ordered, “Tara, come here.”

At first, Tara didn’t react, just staring at him. But then she shuddered all over, pressing her face into her hands with a broken, pained noise. Her scent spiked with distress and she shook her head tightly. It was another couple of seconds of obvious struggle before she spoke.

“No.”

Sam’s Alpha was immediately pissed that this omega dared to defy him, but Sam wrestled the instinct down. Tara was clearly struggling to defy him, and that made Sam feel like an awful person. Jake looked pained as well, rubbing his girlfriend’s back as his eyes moved between Tara and Sam. “You’re okay, baby,” Jake murmured to her, even as his eyes were on Sam.

Sam didn’t expect Tara’s next sentence. “Tell me again,” She whispered, and she seemed to have better control of her voice.

“Tara…” And now Sam really didn’t like this. She was clearly in pain, pain that he had caused, and he didn’t want to make this worse.

“Do it,” Tara snarled in a surprising burst of volume. Everyone in the room seemed startled, looking at Tara. She stared at Sam with defiance. “Coward.” She growled, and Sam’s Alpha would not stand for that.

“Omega, come here.” And he hadn’t intended to use her gender, but it was what his Alpha wanted. He immediately could see the effect it had on Tara, as she gasped out another pained noise, this one higher and louder than the last, and shook violently. But she held her ground, holding Sam’s gaze fiercely.

Fire burned in her eyes when she breathed back at him, “Fuck you.”

Sam’s Alpha raged at her insolence, but Sam was just impressed, because he could physically see the pain she was in, the struggle she was facing. But she still resisted. Fuck… So he wrestled his Alpha down, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists so tight that his nails dug into his palms. He wouldn’t ask her again. He broke her gaze to look away, watching as she did the same with a faint shudder.

And slowly, over the next thirty seconds or so, Tara managed to look back up at him with more clarity in her eyes… and less pain. “God…” She groaned, “I forget how much that sucks…”

“Does it hurt you?” Colby asked, and his arms were wrapped loosely around his bent legs. “To fight him?”

Tara shrugged, wincing. “Kinda,” She admitted. “It’s like… a really awful headache if you fight it. Because your brain is kinda fighting itself. The omega really wants to obey. I know I can’t.” She was still shaking a little bit, and Jake wrapped arms around her, pulling her into his chest. He kissed the top of her head and she smiled softly.

“Fuck…” Colby breathed. He shook his head. “This is… this is gonna suck, isn’t it? To learn to fight this off?”

Tara didn’t sugarcoat it for him. She just nodded.

Colby took a breath, held it for a moment, before releasing it. “Okay,” He said. “Uh… Sam?” Sam nodded at Colby, “Let’s uh… let’s do it.”

“Are you sure?” Tara asked, even before Sam could ask. She looked a little more settled, and she traced Jake’s hand on her waist absentmindedly. “We’ve kinda done a lot today. Like, no one will blame you if you wanna take a break.”

“I want to at least feel it,” Colby said firmly, and Sam felt a half grin on his face, because wasn’t that just Colby? “Sam?” And then everyone was looking at him again.

Sam grimaced, but nodded. He stood up from the bean bag, stepping a few feet away from it and Colby. “Okay. Let’s do it. I’ll uh… ask you to come over here, I guess?”

“Sounds good,” Colby said, a challenging grin on his face… and a tremor in his voice.

Fuck…

Because this was Colby, and somehow that made everything so much easier, but so much worse. Because Sam’s Alpha registered that it was Colby,  _ his _ best friend,  _ his  _ brother, and sank into that deep timber that came from his Alpha voice. “Colby.”

And Colby’s whole body language changed. His breath caught, his body juddered once, and then bright blue eyes were transfixed on Sam. Sam’s Alpha purred at the obedience, murmuring, “Come here, omega.”

Colby rose to his feet, walking towards Sam. He paused just a foot in front of the Alpha, eyes wide and open on Sam’s. The Alpha was pleased. The Alpha wanted to instruct him to kneel, to bare his throat, because Colby was his. His best friend, his brother…  _ his omega _ … 

And then Sam realized what he was doing. “Colby, go sit by Tara and Jake,” He said quickly, and almost lost his hold on his Alpha voice, instead turning to press his hands into his face as Colby walked away from him.

_ What the fuck, Alpha brain? _

Colby settled next to Tara, and Tara put a hand on his shoulder. Sam lost sight of them when he pressed the palm of his hands  _ hard _ into his eyes.  _ What the fuck, what the fuck, Alpha brain? _ The discomfort of the pressure brought him more out of his head, Alpha firmly back under control, and he turned around to check on Colby. Tara was talking to him, murmuring his name, whispering, “He’s not your Alpha, you don’t have to listen to him.”

Sam felt an irrational burst of anger in his chest, biting back the snarl that wanted to pull from his lips. He shoved it back down immediately. What the… what the fuck was wrong with him? Colby didn’t belong to him. Colby was his own man. Fuck…

What the fuck, Alpha brain?

“Sam?” And then Sam heard his name, turning to see Jake looking at him in concern. Colby already seemed to be more with it, nodding responses to Tara’s questions but Sam intentionally was not listening to their conversation.

_ What the fuck was wrong with him? _

“Sam, you good, bro?” It was Jake again, and this time Sam managed to look at him and fake a smile.

“Yeah, I’m good, man,” Sam promised, holding his Alpha down and back.

He and Colby were not their secondary genders. Colby was his best friend and brother. Sam needed to get his fucking shit together.

He wasn’t sure Jake believed him, but Tara started talking to him so he let it go.

Meanwhile, Sam kept looking in shocked horror at his own brain.

_ What the fuck... _

OOO

Colby’s brain was kinda still running over his and Tara’s conversation from earlier.

_ ”You two had always kinda smelled like you and Sam, like brothers, and sometimes I thought I smelled more but like, I was never sure,” Tara shrugged, “But then you presented, and your scent changed and when I smelled you two together… It was pretty obvious, really.” _

_ And Colby’s mouth had felt dry, and he took a couple of swallows of the liquid in his cup that he still barely tasted. “So… what does that mean for us?” _

_ Tara shrugged noncommittally, “It can mean anything you want it to.” _

_ “That’s super helpful, Tara.” _

_ “I mean it,” Tara insisted. “It doesn’t have to mean anything just because it’s there. But uh, if you wanna address it, you can.” _

Colby scrubbed at his face. After he and Sam had left Jake’s room earlier, Colby had retired pretty quickly to his room. Fuck, today had been exhausting, emotionally and physically, the way Sam had looked at him when he had finally come to lucidity after that Alpha voicing…

Fuck, he hated this newfound vulnerability. Hated that Sam had to see him like this, hated that Sam had that much power over him. Not that it was specifically Sam, just people in general and Alphas in particular, because he knew that Sam would never, ever take advantage of him but…

It still stuck in his mind like a stick in the mud.

He’d just have to practice fighting it whenever he could. Because Sam would help him. One-hundred percent.

But Sam wasn’t the only Alpha in his life.

Because of course… there was Brennen.

Because Colby had smelled the scent change when Tara and Jake were together. Because he’d known to look for it when Jake joined them.

And Colby couldn’t deny the validity of what Tara said. So that meant...

Colby stared at his phone, the text message to Brennen open.

_ Hey,  _ Was all that he had typed.

Fuck, what did he even say to Brennen?

_ So Tara thinks we’re soulmates… _

_ So about that whole heat thing… _

_ I miss you… _

Fuck… He groaned, flopping back on his pillow. This was Brennen, and everything had always been so easy with Brennen. Why did he feel like suddenly everything was different? Because they were soulmates? Because Brennen was an Alpha?

Because parts of his omega jumped eagerly at the idea of those two thoughts.

And parts of his heart, too.

“Fuck it,” He muttered, sending the simple,  _ Hey _ . Hopefully, Brennen would fire something neutral back, and then everything would be okay again.

But for the rest of the night, there was no response...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed the info dump. Building the backstory for this world has been so interesting and so satisfying. 
> 
> Also, totally didn’t expect how long this chapter got uh... no complaints I assume?
> 
> Not too much to say for this chapter, except thank you for all the support in the last one! Glad to hear you guys really like it and that everything that I’m doing to make this story work is effective.
> 
> As always, thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, and I’ll see you all in the next one!


	5. Chapter 5

“Fuck, okay, okay…” Colby breathed, and his hands were on his knees, Sam staring at him with no small amount of worry. “I’m okay, dude, just uh… gimme a second.”

“‘Kay…” And Sam didn’t look like he believed him, but he let it go. The hand that had previously been wrapped around Colby’s wrist dropped to his side.

It was the next day, and Sam and Colby were practicing with the omega compulsions again. Because they'd kinda agreed to hold off on telling the fans what was going on until he could better control his reaction to the triggers. As it had already been brought up, they really didn’t want someone to be able to take advantage of him in public.

Of course, that wasn’t to say that someone wouldn’t run into him in public and leak it to the whole world, but… the hope was that he would have better control of it all before that happened.

Because he was slowly realizing how much practice this was going to take.

Colby focused on his body, on identifying and isolating the sensations that had ripped through his body at the tight grip to his wrist. There was the weakness in his knees, the trembling that broke out across his body, and the rush of endorphins that crashed through his brain and made it difficult to think clearly.

That was the hardest one to ignore. It wasn’t like the endorphins he got from working out or sex, it was almost like… a drug. Like an artificial rush of almost opioid levels of  _ good _ , his brain pulsing with a mantra of  _ serve… submit… obey… _

Colby hadn’t managed to fight past the mantra yet, but Tara had assured him that was normal. So for now he was, while not content, maybe just resigned to just understanding what his body wanted to do now and recognizing it.

Because if he could understand and recognize the sensations, he could learn to fight them.

At least, that’s what Tara said.

He pulled in a deep breath, holding it for a second, and breathed it back out. He looked up to meet Sam’s eyes. Sam looked anxious, but then, that wasn’t really a surprise. He’d known Sam for a long ass time. His body language gave away that he was not super okay with this even if his scent had not already. Which is what honestly made Colby okay with it.

Because he knew Sam. And he trusted Sam. And even though they were now Alpha and omega, he knew that he could trust that Sam would never use it against him.

The conversation was not even needed.

“You’re coming out of it faster, I think,” Sam offered, shrugging. “Like, I think at least that’s getting better.”

Colby sighed, because he would call even that a stretch. “I mean, it’s been a day,” He said. “I can’t… I can’t expect that I’m gonna like, be able to overthrow like, fuckin’ years of evolution right away.” And there was the bitterness he’d been trying so hard to control. Because god fucking damn it why did he had to present as an omega now?

Sam looked even more concerned now, and Colby waved him off. “I’m good, dude.” Colby promised.

“Kay…” Sam sighed, and he hugged his legs to his chest. “It’ll get better,” He promised. There was a strange tinge to his scent, and Colby couldn’t quite put a name to it.

“It’d fucking better,” Colby quipped, running a hand through his hair. They were both quiet for a moment, Colby’s brain working through the last week in a strange kind of frenzied haze. “You uh… you hear from Brennen at all?” He asked, looking at Sam.

Sam’s scent pulsed then, something distinctly Alpha and possessiveness. Colby felt his omega want to cower back, or else expose its throat to try to placate the Alpha. Shit… that was a nuance he might not have picked up on before. Maybe he had a little bit of the heightened sense of smell Tara had talked about. But at least the omega urges were’t super strong and he could ignore them. Fuck knew he’d had enough of his free will being compromised…

But it was still a fucking weird ass reaction to be having to  _ Sam _ . 

“No?” Sam said, and his tone was surprisingly normal for the way his scent had just pulsed. “You haven’t?” And there was the concern that he thought that he would have gotten from Sam.

Okay, good. That was a normal reaction.

Colby ignored the strange messages he was getting from his friend. It was probably just his biology acting up. “No,” He said, shrugging. “I texted him last night and uh… no response yet.” Which honestly worried Colby. Had something changed? Did Brennen not want… and it was a stupid fear, because he knew Brennen, trusted Brennen.

He wouldn’t have thought that him presenting as omega would change anything.

“That’s weird,” Sam said, and there was worry on his face. Worry for Colby. He scooted over to Colby, pressing against his shoulder. Colby chuckled a little bit, leaning back and briefly pressing his forehead into Sam’s shoulder. “He didn’t like…” Colby lifted his head again to look at Sam. Sam shrugged. “So like, we both jumped in the pool after…” He gestured and Colby knew what he meant.

After both Alphas had scented omega in heat. Resisted that biological urge to fuck him…

“And he uh, he wasn’t acting weird then,” Sam played idly with the fabric of his jeans. “I mean, we were both probably acting weird by those standards. We were both kinda uh…” He shrugged, “Trying to get a grip.”

_ Right… _ And Colby felt worry move into a cold pit in his stomach. “What did…” Colby swallowed, “I mean, I was pretty out of it, but…” He felt his ears heat up. “Was it really that bad? The heat smell?”

Sam snorted, a flush spreading across his nose and cheeks. “Yeah…” He answered honestly, “Dude, you know that like, I’ve never been into people with primary male genders but uh…” Colby nodded. Sam sighed, his hand moving to fidget with his hair. “Right then… I had to keep reminding myself who you were to me. Because my… my fucking biology…” He let out a pained laugh. “I wanted you, dude. But not like, you, you know?”

Colby did. “The omega,” He said, knowing what Sam was getting at. Because his body in heat had barely recognized his friends. Mostly just the Alpha. Sam nodded in confirmation. “It was uh… about the same for me,” Colby offered, “Like, with you two. My omega… it wanted you. And Brennen, but uh…” He pressed a hand into his face, “Especially Brennen.”

Another pulse of that possessive scent. What the fuck, Sam? “Why?” Sam asked, and his tone was still neutral, so Colby had to wonder if maybe he was imagining everything.

“Why Brennen?” Sam nodded, “I don’t… I don’t know, dude...” Colby tried to think back, tried to connect logic to the frenzy of hormones and heat and  _ need _ that had been his brain that day. There wasn’t much, just that his omega had wanted Sam’s Alpha yeah, but not nearly as much as it had wanted Brennen’s…

Shit, did it have something to do with the whole soulmate thing?

Apparently he’d been quiet for too long, because Sam started talking. “I mean, of the two of us, you were gonna have better luck with Brennen,” Sam said, lips tugging into a wry smile, “He’s never had much of a preference in gender.”

Colby snorted. That was an understatement. Male or female. Alpha, beta, or omega, Brennen seemed to have no preference. It was always a wildcard who Brennen would bring home after a party. Colby and Jake Taylor had used to make bets.

“But with you in heat…” Sam’s tone had lost some of its jovielty, and Colby looked over at him in concern. “He uh… I mean, shit, dude. He almost lost control a couple of times.”

And  _ that _ Colby hadn’t known. “Really?” Why? Was it the unmated Alpha? Or was there something to that soulmate thing Tara had talked about…

And how did he feel about that?

Sam tightened almost imperceptibly next to him. “Yeah,” Sam confirmed, and there was that pulse of Alpha again. Colby sniffed it in, turning to look at Sam. What the fuck was going on with him? “He uh… especially after Tara brought up him fucking you…” And Sam paused, and Colby realized that that was something he and Sam hadn’t talked about yet. The whole soulmate thing.

They should probably do that.

“So I actually talked to Tara about that,” Colby said, and he didn’t even have to specify what he was talking about. It had always been like that for him and Sam. “She uh, she told me something about omegas I didn’t know.”

“What’s that?” Sam asked, and he wasn’t looking at Colby, focused instead somewhere off in the distance.

“So I guess… I guess some omegas can smell soulmates?”

And there had probably been a better way to put that, because the look that Sam sent him told him that his friend was very confused. “Uh… what?”

“Like… they… _ we _ … can smell compatible biologies?” Because Colby still had to keep reminding himself that he was an omega now too. “And I didn’t believe her at first, but then I smelled Jake and Tara, and like, what she said makes sense and I can kinda smell it and uh…”. Sam was still quirking an eyebrow at him, so Colby got to the point. “Tara thinks Brennen and I are soulmates.”

For a moment, Sam didn’t react. But then a scent that was  _ very _ Alpha pulsed from him and Sam lifted an arm to wrap around Colby’s shoulders, his hand gripping just a little harder than he might have previously. “Really?” He asked, and he almost managed to pass for a neutral tone.

“Yeah,” Colby said, not missing the possessiveness of Sam’s body language. Or the slight icky feeling it caused in his gut. “I mean, she says you and I are too,” He pointed out, feeling like he had to placate Sam somehow. “Just like… platonically.”

“Oh,” And that was a good noise. Sam looked momentarily appeased, but he watched Sam catch his caveat. “So you and Brennen… aren’t?” And he really didn’t know what to do about the strange tone in Sam’s voice, and the strange notes to his scent.

“No… uh, not according to Tara, anyway… not that I’ve talked to Brennen about this yet but uh…” He searched Sam’s eyes because something was  _ off _ . “You uh… you good, dude?”

And Sam groaned, looking away for a moment but he nodded, loosening his grip on Colby’s shoulder. “I’m good,” He said. “Just uh…” He seemed to take a moment to regroup, before meeting Colby’s eyes. “So… soulmates? What does… what does that mean?”

And Colby stared at Sam for a moment, trying to figure out what his mind was trying to tell him that Sam was trying to communicate. Because this possessiveness… this was weird. “You know… you know that like…”. And it felt like he shouldn’t have to say it, but he did anyway. “Dude, why are you getting all Alpha at me?”

“What are you talking about?” Sam asked, and he seemed a little alarmed. Was he alarmed that he was doing it… or that Colby had picked up on it?

“I’m not like… you’re putting off all these like possessive vibes,” Colby said, his voice tight, anxiety in his chest, “Like your scent and your body language has been all…” He gestured at Sam. “Alpha-y.”

Sam seemed like he was trying for unimpressed, but his expression still betrayed his anxiety. “I uh…” He looked away from Colby, his jaw working.

And Colby thought he would never have to say it, but there was a sick feeling in his gut and what came out of his mouth was still, “I’m not… like I’m not  _ your _ omega, you know that, right?”

“I- fuck,” Sam shook his head, lifting his hand from Colby’s shoulders. “Fuck, Colby, of course you’re not.”

“Then what the fuck it with all of the possessiveness?” Colby asked tightly. “You’re acting fucking weird, dude.”

Sam’s hands were on his thighs, moving back and forth in agitation. “I don’t actually… like I swear I don’t actually think of you as like…” He groaned. “My biology’s doing a lot of weird shit right now.  _ I _ know you’re your own person. My Alpha…” He sighed, “My biology’s just acting weird.”

Yup, there was that sick feeling twisting in his gut again. Colby swallowed. “I’m not your omega.” And he shouldn’t have had to say it. “I’m not anybody’s omega.” Sam cringed, but nodded.

“I know you’re not…” And he looked at Colby, “Look, I don’t… I don’t know what my body is doing right now, but uh…” He released a heavy breath, “I promise I’m controlling it, okay? Nothing changes for me. For us. Our genders… are just gonna have to figure themselves out, okay?”

And for the first time, Colby felt just a little uneasy with Sam. Sam and Brennen had never had the easiest relationship, and with this… weird ass possessiveness added to the mix. But he shook it off. They were both still navigating his new gender. Just like how there was an adjustment period when Sam first presented as Alpha, there would be one now with Colby presenting as omega.

The difference was that the new gender wouldn’t just make one of them almost unbearably moody and protective of their space. This one made Colby so much more vulnerable. To people in general. But especially to Sam.

But this was Sam. He trusted Sam. Unequivocally. “Okay,” He responded, wrapping an arm around Sam’s shoulders. “We’ll figure this out, okay?”

Sam nodded, now the one leaning into Colby’s shoulder. “We will, brother,” He murmured. Colby squeezed Sam into him.

Because things felt a little weird, but they would be okay.

They had to be.

OOO

The handcuffs were out on the bed when Sam brought Katrina into his room that night. She took one look at them, then at him, and just asked, “You need me to take control tonight, baby?”

And Sam knew his face was red, but he nodded. “Yeah,” He said hoarsely.

And he saw in her eyes that Katrina knew that something was up, but she didn’t ask him then. Instead, she just stepped into his space, gathering up his wrists in her hands and pressing them behind his back. She held them there with one hand while she pressed the other against his cheek. Her thumb swiped over his lips and he kissed it gently, looking lovingly at her. His brain, which had been clamoring with panic and overthinking Colby and the whole fucking soulmate revelation, was slowly starting to quiet, as it always did when Kat took control of him like this. “Hey,” He murmured.

“Hey,” She murmured, and then she was kissing him, and Sam sucked a breath into his lungs, pressing into her. Her hand slid from his cheek into his hair, scratching soothingly at his scalp as he all but melted into the kiss. Kat let out a pleased hum into the kiss, and Sam could feel the vibrations from her throat against his lips.

He moved his wrists a little bit, just to feel Kat’s grip tighten around them. Because it was reassuring somehow, to feel the security of the grip around his wrists. To know that even though he was the Alpha, he didn’t have to have control of everything all the time.

Kat would happily take that responsibility from him.

Kat had broken the kiss to nip along his jawline. When Kat’s hand tightened in his hair to pull his head back to expose his throat, Sam couldn’t help the whimper that broke from his lips. He heard a pleased noise from her, before she bit into his throat, hard, over his jugular.

Sam keened, briefly losing his footing to the sensation that burst through him at the claiming bite to his throat. Kat’s hands stayed tight on his wrists, his hair, holding him immobile and just biting that much harder.

Fuck, there would be a bruise there. A bruise that would heal by tomorrow with his accelerated Alpha healing, but one that he would still enjoy and admire until that point. “Babe…” Sam groaned, gasping into the pain of the bite. “Babe, please…”

Kat released his neck from her bite, looking up at him with a low growl of contentment. She squeezed his wrists, murmuring, “Stay, baby…” He nodded, and she released her grip on him, moving over to the bed to get the cuffs. “Shirt,” She reminded him as she moved back to him, and Sam quickly pulled his shirt off, tossing it away somewhere that he would worry about later. Kat took him in, her eyes moving over his half naked body, a salacious grin tugging at her lips. “God, you’re so hot,” She murmured, lifting the hand not holding the cuffs to stroke at his chest.

Sam let out a low groan, his eyes falling closed in a long blink before they opened to regal her again. God, he loved her like this. Sexy and confident in her ability to control him. “Love you,” He whispered, and his voice had gone all deep and husky.

“Love you too,” She smiled back at him. “Hands.”

Sam held his hands out, knowing what she was doing. She unbuckled one of the cuffs, fitting it around his right wrist before cinching it down. Not so tight as to be uncomfortable, but tight enough to hold him securely. “Okay?” She checked in.

Sam nodded, “Yeah.” His brain was peaceful, okay with being here and letting her restrain him.

She locked the cuff, moving to the other wrist and locking it the first one. The cuffs could detach, which made them pretty versatile, but it was difficult for Sam to do himself, especially if they were locked behind his back or over his head. And then of course there was an optional padlock for if they really didn’t want him to escape.

But that wasn’t the mood today. He wanted to be here.

Kat disconnected the cuffs, pulling his hands behind him again where she reconnected them. Sam tested the cuffs again, another pang of lust and comfort moving through him when they didn’t give, and didn’t pain him.

They had to withstand his Alpha in full rut after all.

“Good?” Kat checked in again, scratching her nails over his chest.

“Good,” Sam murmured back, his voice turned into what was mostly a growl. Kat grinned at him, and then her hand had gripped into his hair again and she was kissing him, a low snarl breaking out from her nose. Sam whined back in response, flexing against the cuffs as he pressed back hungrily into the kiss. She nipped into his lips and he groaned. His cock was hard in his pants and he was pretty sure Kat knew that, because the hand not gripping his hair was scratching over his abdomen, dancing teasingly over his waistline. “Babe…” He growled.

Kat’s eyes opened, and her grin was teasing when she broke the kiss to look at him. “Love you,” She said, and then she was biting into his neck again but she had also cupped him through his pants so the pain at the bite could be ignored. Sam gasped, stumbling a little bit, his hands jerking against the cuffs. “Kat…”

Kat just laughed a little bit, setting up a stroking rhythm with her hand, fingers pressing down his shaft while the palm of her hand stroked his head. Sam’s hips juddered, pressing harder into her hand but Kat didn’t let him, just backing off the pressure until it was just teasing strokes again. “Babe…” He groaned.

“Want something?” Kat asked teasingly, and he hoped the look he sent her was baleful enough.

“Babe, come on…”

“I gotcha, babe…” And she stopped her stroking motions on him, but it was so that she could unattach the cuffs. “Bed,” She said firmly, and pushed him back towards the bed.

Sam didn’t need to be told twice. He climbed up to the head of the bed, letting Kat follow him. He laid on his back when he got there, and she climbed on top of him, grabbing his wrists and pressing them over his head. She connected them again, before connecting the cuffs to a chain that sat behind the bed that was bolted into the floor.

That had been a bit embarrassing to explain to the construction guys, but once they had a chain that could take the full brunt of Sam’s Alpha strength the embarrassment was quickly forgotten.

Kat settled back on top of him, and Sam made the happy discovery that somewhere between moving to the bed and chaining Sam down Kat had lost the cute sundress she’d been wearing, leaving her in just the underwear she’d worn underneath. “Have I ever mentioned how much I love that a lingerie brand sponsored you?” He asked, his voice throaty.

Kat grinned at him. “You have,” She said, and then she moved her hips to grind into him and he groaned.

“Well… still do,” He said, chuckling a little bit. “Definitely… definitely a fan.”

Kat giggled back at him, before shifting off of him and palming his erection again. Sam let his eyes fall shut, just shifting his hips as Kat started up another stroking motion.

God, she knew just how he liked it...

“God, I love you,” He breathed, his back arching into the contact. “I love you so much…”

“Love you too,” Kat murmured fondly, tightening her grip on him and Sam groaned, rolling his hips with the stroking motion. His hands pulled against the cuffs and he felt the chain catch them. He wasn’t going anywhere and he fucking  _ loved it _ .

He felt Kat shift on the bed, and he opened his eyes to her lowering her mouth to his hip while her hand shifted to undo the button on his pants. He groaned, letting his head fall back and lifting his hips to help her pull his pants down.

And then he was naked and she was just sitting there, nipping and licking at the inside of his hip while her nails traced lightly over the underside of his cock. She looked up at him past her eyelashes, and Sam felt his cock jerk underneath her fingers. “You’re so beautiful,” He murmured, pulling against the cuffs again, “Fuck, I love you.”

Kat blushed, the color clear against the blue of her lingerie, but she didn’t verbally respond, nipping harder into the skin of his hip while her hand wrapped solidly around him. His breathing caught, before pushing out on a moan at the sensation of her stroking him. “God, babe…”

He heard a contented noise from his mate, and she was mouthing over the skin on his abdomen, hand still stroking over his cock while her lips and tongue and teeth all worked together to be almost maddening. He let out some sort of half broken whine, jerking hard on the cuffs.

It was so fucking good. God, she knew just how to work him, her tongue laving gently over his balls while her hand kept up the pace that was now starting to feel almost infuriatingly slow. “Kat…” He jerked on the cuffs, feeling his cock pulse again as they held steady, as he knew they would.

He wasn’t supposed to get out of this. That was the whole point.

Didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try to fight it a little bit. Because it was reassuring to feel that he couldn’t get out of this, not unless Kat let him.

He was at her mercy…

“Oh fuck!” He gasped as the head of his cock was engulfed in warm and wet, his eyes flying open to see that Katrina had wrapped her lips around him. “Fuck, baby…”. His toes curled, his knees bending to try to find some traction and solidness from the sensation. Kat just hummed, a mischievous look in her eyes.

She pulled off of him, but it was only so that she could ask, “You wanna tell me when?” And that was more of a suggestion than a demand, an offer of another game they could play, an offer that if Sam was okay with it, Katrina could play with his orgasm.

He met her eyes, and nodded down at her. “I’ll tell you when,” He said hoarsely.

Katrina grinned, and took him into her mouth once again.

He groaned, head falling back and eyes closing as his hands closed into fists. “Fuck…” He whispered. “Fuck, babe…”

He thought he heard a giggle, but he was distracted from more intelligent thought when she sucked just so on the head of his cock. “God…” He growled low in his throat, pulling against the cuffs again. She pulled a broken noise from his throat when she gripped into his thighs with her nails, pushing them further apart.

God, but he’d forgotten how good Kat was at blowjobs. He knew she hadn’t had much experience before him so maybe it was just natural talent? Either way, he was not going to complain because this was fucking amazing and fuck, he was going to fucking cum...

“Babe, babe…” He whimpered, because he was getting close now, and if she kept up whatever sexy fucking thing she was doing with her tongue…. She pulled off of him, and Sam gasped, hips thrusting up futilely after her even as she went to mouth at his inner thigh again. He met her eyes, dark where they looked at him, and he groaned.

“Fuck, baby…” She kissed the head of his cock, which was  _ sensitive _ and he would not be held responsible for the noise that evoked. “Kat…” But he lost the rest of the sentence when she wrapped her mouth around him again.

Sam wasn’t quite sure how many times he called ‘when’. It was at least three. Enough times that his balls were aching and his cock was throbbing and he all but sobbed when he called it and Kat pulled off of him again.

“Fuck, fuck…” He gasped, and he yanked at the cuffs restraining his hands. The cuffs held, even though he was pulling at them at close to full strength, the strength that had shattered the first pair they used. But these cuffs and the chain were reinforced, and as intended, he went nowhere.

Kat looked at him, and her cheeks were flushed, her lips swollen, her eyes dark. “Babe…” He whispered brokenly. “Baby…”. He wanted to reach for her, but he couldn’t. She seemed to see the intention in his eyes though, and moved up his body to let him kiss her. He shuddered, moaning into the kiss. Kat had one hand on his face, one gripping into his hair, and he was desperately throbbing, but still only allowed to take as much as she would give. He wanted to cum, wanted to so badly. But he didn’t want to ask. Wanted her to have control of that.

Kat pulled back from the kiss, letting him try to follow her with a pitiful whine. “Hey baby…” She murmured, and she was a little out of breath, but she wasn’t desperate, panting. Not like he was.

“Hi,” He responded, and his voice was all in his throat. He felt a finger stroke him, more felt than heard her giggled reaction to the way his whole body seized into the touch.

“So sexy, baby…” She murmured, and then her hand had wrapped solidly around him again. Sam gasped, his abs clenching up, pressing into the contact with a low, broken noise.

“I…” And he was so fucking sensitive after all of those almost orgasms, and he honestly wasn’t sure he’d be able to cum with how sensitive and tingly everything felt, his hands, his feet, his face…

“Tell me when, Sam,” Katrina murmured in his ear, and Sam whined, sure she was going to just leave him again, but still okay with that too. Because Sam not having any control was the whole thing-

_ Even though his balls were so tight and his cock was so hard- _

But he was getting close to that edge again, so he flailed with his hands and murmured, “Kat, Kat…” To warn her.

Because those were the rules to this game.

But Kat just grinned at him, and kept stroking.

_ Oh fuck…  _ And it seemed like she was actually going to let him cum this time.  _ Fuck, fuck, fuck... _

And Sam wanted to watch her face, he swore he did, but when his orgasm actually hit him his mouth fell open and his eyes squeezed shut and Kat muffled the yell that would have come from his mouth with her hand. Then, when the worst of the yell tapered off, she kissed him gently, soothing his ragged nerves as her hand continued to stroke him through the aftershocks.

Sam shuddered, a full body thing, kissing up into her mouth in a desperate, sloppy way. He heard her chuckled, but she kissed him back, hand cupping his cheek and her other one releasing his cock to scratch over his chest.

“Love you…” He murmured breathlessly, “Love you so, so much, God…”

“Love you too, baby,” Kat whispered back, kissing his lips, his cheeks, his forehead. “So much.”

“Fuck, so much…” And now he was shivering. He didn’t think it was from cold although just about everything felt like too much right now. 

“I’m going to go get a towel.” Kat kissed him quickly on the lips before leaving the bed. He heard her moving around in the bathroom, heard water running, before she returned to him, a damp towel in her hands.

She wiped him down gently, being tender to the over-sensitized skin of his cock and balls, clearing off the accumulated sweat and semen. All the while, Sam felt like his breathing got further and further back under his control, and when Kat touched his wrists, he was mostly back to planet Earth. “You want these off?” Kat asked quietly.

He considered for a moment, and shook his head. His hands felt okay, and he… he didn’t want to let go of the security blanket the cuffs provided. Kat just nodded, smiling softly at him. She just pulled the blanket over him and snuggled into his side, head propped up on her hand so that she could look at him, “How you doing?” She asked.

He shrugged, wiggling his fingers. “Good,” He whispered, his voice still hoarse. “Do you want… do you want me to…”

She figured out what he was asking before he could finish the sentence. “I’m good,” She murmured, kissing him softly. “You can pay me back by cooking later.”

“Oh god, not cooking,” Sam rolled his eyes dramatically and Kat laughed, pecking him on the cheek.

She traced his chest with her free hand. “I love the way you look like this,” She murmured, tracing his pectorals with her nails. “The cuffs stretch out all your muscles. It’s nice to look at.”

Sam chuckled, knowing he was blushing a little bit. “Good to know,” He said. “Well, you look super sexy when you get all dominant on me,” He flashed her a grin.

“Oh really,” Kat popped an eyebrow at him, pushing herself back up to hold herself up over him. “The Alpha likes being dominated?”

“Only when it’s by you,” Sam replied with a grin, and he shared her laugh when she leaned down to kiss him. He was content to kiss her for a moment, but the endorphins from the sex were starting to wear off.. And with it, came awareness of his body. And his sore arms. He flexed against the cuffs, murmuring, “Okay, I think I’m ready to have them off.”

Kat didn’t make him ask twice. She just pushed herself up to undo the chain anchoring him to the bed. She helped him lower his wrists to his chest, Sam groaning out a noise at the movement of the stretched muscle. “Fuck…”

She undid them gently, gathering his wrists up once they were free to press the reddened skin to her lips. She kissed him softly, and Sam grinned dopily up at her. The abrasions would heal overnight, but he wasn’t going to complain about the care. “I love you,” He said.

“I love you too,” Kat answered, and Sam gathered her up in his arms, pulling her into him. She giggled a little bit, but it was mostly a contented sound. God… loved her so much…

They cuddled in what was mostly silence for a little while. Kat was the one to break the quiet. “So… how did it go with Colby earlier?” Kat asked gently, and Sam sighed. Because she always knew exactly what was actually going on with him.

Was almost like they’d been dating for four years or something…

“How’d you know?” He asked instead, sighing.

Kat’s face was soft. “You tend to ask me to tie you up more when you’re dealing with something,” She answered honestly. Sam sighed, because she wasn’t wrong. “And I know you guys were hanging out earlier and working on his omega stuff so…” She shrugged. “Made sense.”

Sam huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, yeah it would.” Kat didn’t say anything, and Sam knew she was waiting for him to respond. He sighed, but obliged. “So… my Alpha side has been doing… weird shit, since he presented.”

“Yeah?” Kat looked at him evenly.

Sam fidgeted with his hands, “Like, when we were trying stuff yesterday, with Jake and Tara, I like…” And it was weird to put it into words, but he tried, “My Alpha… like I know he’s not mine, he never has been but…” He sighed. “My Alpha side sometimes… thinks of him as mine?”

Kat looked at him, her brow scrunching up, looking away in thought. “Huh…” She murmured.

“And it’s not, like, sexual. At all. Just…” He shrugged, not knowing how to explain himself, how to defend himself. “I just feel… protective…”

“I mean, that would make sense,” Kat offered, and Sam looked up at her. “It’s Colby. Of course you’re going to be protective of him. And now that he’s an omega…” She shrugged, “Slightly different pack dynamics.”

“Yeah, but he…” Because maybe he could write it off as a one off incident, brought about by channeling his Alpha side with his voice. But then Colby had brought up Brennen, and the whole “soulmate” thing, and the fucking flare of possessiveness he’d felt.

Not that he and Brennen had ever had the easiest relationship when it came to Colby, but now, with the other Alpha potentially being soulmates with his best friend

_ -his omega _ -

“Sam?” Kat’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. He looked at her with wide, questioning eyes. “You’re growling,” She told him quietly.

“Fuck, sorry…” Sam muttered.

Kat looked concerned now. “What’s going on in your head?” She asked softly, touching his chest.

Sam pressed his lips together, taking a breath and asking on the exhale, “Do you believe in soulmates?”

Kat looked a little surprised at the question, but considered it anyway. “Uh… I think I remember learning about like, compatible biologies in school. Kinda the scientific thing behind soulmates,” She offered. “And I always kinda thought we were.” She grinned at him.

Sam smiled back at her. “Same,” He agreed, “But uh, anyway,” Kat nodded for him to continue. “So, Tara thinks Brennen and Colby are uh… soulmates.”

Katrina blinked at him for a few moments, and then all of the sudden everything seemed to make sense to her. “So your Alpha doesn’t like that another Alpha could claim him,” She deduced.

“I uh… I guess?” Sam asked helplessly. “It feels stupid, and knotheaded, but like…” He sighed, pressing his face into his hands. “And you know Brennen and I have a bit of a history with him so like…”

Kat pulled his hands away from his face and kissed him gently. Sam let her kiss him for a few moments, but looked at her when she pulled away. “Look,” She murmured, “I don’t blame you when your hormones act up. I know Colby doesn’t either. But-” She headed off the protest already on his lips. “If you let them change who he is to you... I know he will blame you, okay?”

Sam met her gaze steadily. “He’s my best friend, Kat,” He said firmly. “I promised him that nothing's gonna change that. I won’t let it.”

And Kat searched his eyes for a moment, but then she nodded at him. “Good,” She said, “Then you guys have nothing to worry about.”

OOO

Colby’s phone going off woke him up from the nap he was trying to have that afternoon. He groaned, flailing for a few moments. Who the fuck was calling him. He located his phone with his hand, pulling it into his line of vision-

And then immediately waking up fully because Brennen was the one calling him.

“Fuck, fuck,” He fumbled with the phone, thumbing it open and pressing it to his ear, “Hey, Brennen.” He hoped he didn’t sound half asleep...

“Yo. Shit, dude, sorry I kinda ghosted you,” Brennen said quickly, and his voice sounded weird, off, kinda throaty and breathy. And nervous? Was Brennen nervous?

“Hey, it’s not a problem,” Colby started, immediately going to console his friend but Brennen kept talking.

“It is, because I know you and I  _ know _ you were freaking out…”

“Brennen…” Colby felt his cheeks flush.

“But uh… I actually have a good excuse this time,” There was a sheepish tone in Brennen’s voice.

Oh boy, this should be good. “And what’s that?” Colby asked, and he could feel the teasing smile on his face.

“I uh… kinda went into rut. Like uh… a month and a half early.”

And Colby blinked, because of all of the excuses he had expected that was not one of them. “What?”

“Yeah,” Brennen confirmed, and that would explain the quality of his voice, if he’d been doing nothing but dealing with a rut for the past few days… “Just wrapped up this morning. So uh… Promise I didn’t just get drunk and forget to reply this time.”

His words surprised a bark of a laugh out of Colby. “I… fuck, dude…” Colby muttered, laying back in his bed and staring up at the ceiling. Because Brennen had been regular for a long time. Almost five years. “You know why?”

There were a few moments where Colby could only hear Brennen’s breathing, and then, “I uh… I have a guess,” Brennen said faintly. “But uh… it leads to a uh, very interesting place, bro.”

Colby huffed a bit of a laugh. “Is it the soulmate thing?” Colby asked, feeling like he already knew the answer.

Once again there was silence from the other line for just a moment, before Brennen’s quiet voice was asking, “How’d you guess?”

“Tara uh… Tara might have had a theory,” Colby answered, and now his heart was starting to beat harder in his chest. Because he thought he remembered that faintly from school, that Alpha and omega pairs would sync up with their hormone cycles.

Was that what he and Brennen had done?

“You free?” Brennen asked, and Colby nodded, because it was only like five in the afternoon. Yeah, he was free.

He was almost always free for Brennen.

“Yeah, you wanna come over?”

“Yeah,” Brennen agreed. “I’ll uh… I’ll get showered and head over, okay?”

“That would… that would be good,” Colby agreed faintly. He forcefully ignored the mental images that statement summoned up.

“Cool,” Brennen said, his voice nervous now too. “Cool. Uh… I’ll text you when I’m headed over okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Uh… see you then,” Colby said.

“Bye.” And then Brennen hung up.

Colby pulled his phone away from his ear and just stared at the screen for a moment. “Okay…” He whispered. “Okay. Okay, we’re doing this.”

No turning back now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed that. We’re finally getting into the plot with this chapter, and after that Sam/Kat interlude, next chapter’s gonna be much more Colby centric.
> 
> At least, I think it is. We’ll see what happens when I actually sit down to write it.
> 
> Alright, as always, hope you guys enjoyed, let me know what you think, and I’ll see you in the next one!


	6. Chapter 6

The sun felt warm against the bare skin of his chest,

He’d laid down on one of the pool chairs, absentmindedly pulling his shirt off because he needed something grounding right then and figured, eh, sun would do it. He’d debated alcohol, but then realized that he was probably going to be muddled enough with the omega hormones that he wouldn’t need anything else adding to his brain’s confusion.

Because just the idea of seeing the Alpha - _his Alpha-_ was sending his heart racing.

“He’s not my Alpha,” Colby reminded himself quietly, scolding the excited omega in his chest. Because it wanted Brennen, its mate, its Alpha, and Colby was still trying to come to terms with the different sides of him.

Because his human side just knew Brennen as his best friend.

His omega side… saw his mate.

Colby glanced at his phone, his heart jumping into his chest as it buzzed. Sure enough, it was Brennen. _Yo, I’m here,_ Came Brennen’s text.

_Come out back, the door’s open :)_

He hoped that was normal enough.

Colby took a deep breath, releasing it slowly through pursed lips. This was Brennen. One of his best friends. He had nothing to worry about. Too late, he wished he had kept his shirt on when he walked out back, but he was probably overthinking it.

And besides, Brennen had just stepped onto the porch.

“Yo,” Brennen called, and there was what was probably supposed to be an easy grin on his face, but Colby could see the worry it was masking. Well, that made two of them.

“Yo,” Colby called back, and he kicked his legs over the end of the lounge chair, standing to meet Brennen. His stomach only fluttered a little bit.

“Why’re you out here?”

“Sam and Kat are going at it,” Colby answered, stepping towards Brennen. “I didn’t need to hear that today.”

“Ha, fair.” And Brennen was moving towards him too, but about ten feet back from Colby, Brennen paused. “Uh…” And Colby was confused until his friend asked, “Can uh… can I hug you? That’s not one of your omega things, right?”

“I uh… fuck…” And Colby felt a little bit of relief mixed with some humiliation that Brennen would have thought to ask, _that he would have needed to ask._ “Uh, no. Don’t think so.” Sam hugging him hadn’t triggered the rush of debilitating hormones that hair pulling or throat grabs did.

Thank fuck.

“Cool, cool,” Brennen gave him a nervous grin, and he stepped forward the last little bit to hold a hand out. Colby gripped it, pulling him into a hug. Colby laughed a little bit, pressing his forehead momentarily into his friend’s shoulder. “Good to see you sane again, man.” Brennen said, clapping his back.

Colby chuckled. “Yeah, same,” And this was normal. This was them, this was good. He took what was meant to be a calming breath through his nose. Was meant to be, but that was when Brennen’s scent slammed into him.

Oh fuck, Brennen smelled _good_ …

Colby found a whine involuntarily pressing from his throat, a shudder bursting through his body because Brennen smelled like… well he smelled like Brennen, like his friend, but Colby’s newly awakened omega also smelled _Alpha_ , _mate_ , _mine_ … Colby had to fight through the initial instinct to press closer to Brennen and take an even deeper breath of that intoxicating scent. It was only because he had some familiarity with the omega hormones that he didn’t do just that. “Brennen…” And he wouldn’t be held responsible for the rasping gasp his voice came out in.

That was when he heard Brennen’s answering growl. He stifled another groan as Brennen’s hands tightened on him, one still grasping his hand and the other wrapped around his back.

“Brennen…” He tried again, but Brennen pressed his face further into Colby’s neck, growling lower. That caused another low burst of the hormones, and while he stayed mostly in his head his omega couldn’t entirely ignore it. He found himself tilting his head to give Brennen more access before he ever really realized it. Brennen _-his Alpha-_ hummed a contented sound, and that was… oh fuck, he hadn’t expected how pleased his omega would be at making his Alpha happy. 

“Bren-” And his voice was faint this time, because somewhere in him he knew he had to stop this, had to head this off before anything escalated. But Brennen gripped him tighter when he tried to pull away.

“Colby…” Brennen’s Alpha growled at him, and his resistance all but faltered.

“Bren…” And then Colby felt teeth bite lightly over his neck.

_Oh fuck…_

In the end, it was probably the fact that Colby’s legs completely gave out that kept… whatever this would have been… from escalating. He certainly had nothing to do with stopping it. He just knew that the now familiar burst of endorphins crashed through him, and he lost most of his control of his body. He was aware enough that he thought he heard some sort of noise from Brennen, felt arms catch him and slow his descent, but everything kinda registered in the back of his head. All his brain could actively focus on was the crashing, roaring endorphins that made his body feel like it was floating away, that demanded he submit, and serve.

_Alpha..._

He floated there for a moment, brain swimming in the influx of chemicals until the cascade evened out, letting him begin to sort through the hormones and emotions that had been left behind. That was honestly the most difficult part, and it took him a long moment to realize that someone was saying his name. He blinked up at the face, the owner of the voice, and slowly the dots started to connect.

There was Brennen, his best friend looking at him, something dark and just this side of Alpha in his eyes, and Colby finally registered just what had happened. What had just almost happened.

“You fuckin’... you fuckin’ bit me…” He muttered accusingly, needing to break his gaze with Brennen because looking into the Alpha’s eyes was making his head spin again. “The… the fuck, dude?”

“I’m so fucking sorry…” Colby finally registered the terror and regret that filled Brennen’s voice, “Holy fuck, bro, I am so sorry.”

“S’okay…” Colby groaned, and it wouldn’t be in a moment, but right now he was still sorting through the soap of hormones that was his brain. “Probably… probably a soulmate thing, huh?”

“I… fuck, fuck…” Brennen whispered, and Colby realized that his hands were off of Colby, probably afraid to touch him now. “I didn’t… I didn’t mean to… I swear that has never, ever happened before...”

“S’okay…” Colby shook his head lightly as he waved Brennen off and finally managed to look up at Brennen again. “I uh… new hormones, and shit…” Anger and frustration at his second gender were slowly dripping back in, but it wasn’t… wasn’t really Brennen’s fault. He knew that Brennen had tight control over his Alpha side. It had to be the soulmate thing. The soulmate thing he… he still didn’t really understand… “What happened?”

“Well, you uh… you… you smell, really, really, fucking good,” Brennen said tightly, but he cracked the ghost of a smile. “New cologne?”

Colby felt something tug at his lips, “Same shit that you’re wearing, apparently.”

“Shit…” Brennen sighed, and he sat back, still trying to keep a distance from Colby. His omega side wasn’t thrilled, but Colby's human side really appreciated it. He flexed his fingers, trying to will away the tingling that was still fading from them. “You just… must be the omega thing.”

 _Fuck…_ Colby was starting to hate his omega things. “And uh… probably the soulmate thing…” Colby shrugged. He shifted to sit cross legged in front of Brennen. “Guess uh… biting’s gonna be one of my “omega things”.” He threw up air quotes.

Brennen huffed a laugh, “I mean, I think I bit you over your claiming gland so like, might have something to do with that.”

Colby nodded, “Yeah, might.” He scrubbed his face with his hands. Fuck… at least his body mostly felt like his again. “So uh… maybe don’t do that again?”

“Fuck, yeah,” Brennen agreed quickly, “I wouldn’t have… Colby, I never…”

“I know, I know…” Colby sighed, fidgeting with his hair absently. “I don’t think either of us saw that coming.”

Brennen shook his head in confirmation. “I just… I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have lost control like that…”

“You’re good, dude, promise,” Colby said, meeting Brennen’s eyes. And his omega wiggled in joy at the attention his Alpha was giving him but Colby swallowed it down.

 _Brennen wasn’t_ his _Alpha._

_Colby didn’t belong to anyone..._

“Anywhere else I should know about?” Brennen asked quietly, “Just uh, so we don’t get a repeat of that?”

“Yeah…”

And Colby quickly listed off the other trigger points they’d found. Brennen just nodded in agreement. “Not gonna do that again,” He said, his arms wrapped loosely around his legs. “That scared the shit out of me, man.”

“Me too, the first time,” Colby nodded, cringing at the memory; hitting the ground, unable to even understand what had happened at first, his friends staring at him with worry in their eyes. “I’m uh… still learning to fight it.”

“Good…” Brennen said, and he still looked afraid to come anywhere near Colby. 

Colby sighed, trying to stand and finding that his legs were ready to support him. He took the couple of steps to Brennen, holding out his hand to help his friend to his feet. “Come on, man, let’s sit on the chairs at least. My ass is falling asleep.”

Brennen snorted, but he reached out and gripped Colby’s hand, letting Colby pull him to his feet as well. Brennen’s hand felt unusually warm, but it was strong and comforting in Colby’s. There was a softer smile on Brennen’s face when he reached his feet, and Colby felt something warm and comforting in his chest that had nothing to do with his omega side.

Probably. Maybe. He couldn’t always tell these days.

He let go of Brennen’s hand, moving back to the pool chair. Brennen followed him, sitting down in the chair across from Colby’s. His arms rested on his knees, and he met Colby’s eyes again. “So…” He started, “Soulmates, huh?”

“Yeah, apparently…” Colby nodded, pressing hands through his hair.

“What did Tara say about all of this?” Brennen asked, “You said she could smell it?”

“Yeah,” Colby confirmed, “Said that uh… some omegas can smell soulmates, and now that my scent is omega… now we, you and me… we smell like mates. And uh…” He’d looked into that whole cycles syncing up thing while waiting for Brennen. There was a lot of truth to it. And Brennen had been regular for so long… it was the most likely explanation. “Not to mention you going into rut.”

“That fuckin’ sucked…” Brennen groaned, leaning back and into the pool chair. “God dammit, I had shit to do.” He glared accusingly at Colby. “You fucked me up.”

“It’s not like I tried,” Colby shot back defensively. “I didn’t ask to present as omega at fucking twenty-three.”

Brennen’s face softened. “I didn’t mean it like that, man.”

“I… fuck, I know…” Colby pressed his face into his hands before he looked back up at Brennen. “It’s been a fucking week.”

“You’re good, man, promise,” Brennen said, eyes earnest, and there was that flipping of his stomach again. Colby bit back the way his omega just wanted to stare back into his eyes. He cleared his throat anxiously.

“So what does… what does Sam think about all of this, the us being soulmates thing?” And that was a weird tone in Brennen’s voice. Colby looked up at him, but he didn’t see anything that gave away Brennen’s emotions on his face, and Colby told himself it was probably just paranoia.

Because he didn’t need another Alpha friend getting all weird at him.

“He’s… he’s acting weird,” Colby admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “Really like, weirdly possessive.” There was a twitch in Brennen’s face. “Like it was all fine at first and then I brought you and the soulmate thing up, he got…” And he really didn’t have a better word. “Weird,” He finished, still running through that conversation in his head.

_“I’m not your omega. I’m not anybody’s omega.”_

“He’s not your Alpha,” Brennen pointed out, and fuck but Brennen knew how to hit the nail right on the head, huh?

“I know that,” Colby said firmly, “I told him that. And he knows but…” He sighed, frustration and fear moving through him, “Shit just keeps happening. He says he’s controlling it but…” He shrugged.

Fuck… he didn’t know…

Something weird twitched in Brennen’s face, but he nodded and looked away. Colby stared after him for a moment. “Why do you ask?”

Brennen shrugged. “No reason,” He said, and that... didn’t sound entirely truthful and Colby wasn’t thrilled about that. He squinted at Brennen, because he knew that Sam and Brennen hadn’t always had the best of relationships, but he’d thought they were over it.

”Did Sam say something?” He asked, because Sam could be a little hot headed sometime and if he’d snapped at Brennen...

”No, no, he...” Brennen sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, “It’s just Alpha stuff, don’t worry.”

Colby didn’t know how to explain the way his stomach twisted. He groaned, “God, not you too.”

Brennen shrugged sheepishly. “Second genders suck sometimes.” He gestured at Colby, “But I’m controlling it, promise.”

 _That was what Sam said too..._ but he didn’t say that. He just pressed his hands together tightly and changed the topic. “So... soulmates?”

“Yeah,” Brennen nodded, seizing the subject change. “So... What does that mean? Us being… soulmates?”

Colby snorted dryly, remembering Tara’s noncommittal response to the same question. “Tara said that it could mean whatever we wanted it to.”

Brennen scoffed. “That’s helpful.”

“That’s what I said,” Colby muttered, because it would have been so much easier to have something to go off of. But right now they were just flailing in the dark. “But I guess her point was that like, just because we’re non-platonic soulmates-”

“Wait a minute, non-platonic?” Brennen cut him off, looking confused.

Colby caught his wording and nodded, “Yeah. I guess there are non-platonic, like I guess you and me, and like Tara and Jake and uh, platonic soulmates, so like... me and Sam.” Brennen was staring at him, and he continued, “She said we used to smell platonic. Until I presented.”

Brennen huffed out a breath through his nose. “Weird,” He commented, looking away.

“Yeah…” Colby agreed, “But anyway, her point was that just because we have the like, potential to be, we don’t have to be anything more than friends?”

Brennen hummed an acknowledgement, a thoughtful look on his face. Thoughtful but… worried. “Is that what you want?” He asked.

Colby felt his heart jump. “Uh… which one?”

Brennen shrugged, and his eyes were on Colby again. “Do you want this to change anything?” And his tone was neutral, but Colby thought that the answer might mean more to Brennen than he was letting on. His scent told Colby that.

“Uh…” And for the life of him Colby didn’t have an answer. “Uh… I don’t… I don’t know.” He said honestly. “I don’t… everything changed so quickly that…” He fidgeted with his hands. “I mean, it’s not like… Uh, cause it’s not like I don’t think you’re hot…”

_What the fuck, brain?_

“You think I’m hot?” And there was a grin, a teasing lilt in Brennen’s voice.

“Uh… fuck…” Colby felt his face heat up, because his omega vehemently agreed, but Colby didn’t know what to think, “Fuck, man, I don’t want to fuck us up, you know? Like, so much else just fucking… _changed_ … and…” His hand moved in agitation, almost as if he could pull the words he was searching for out of the air, and all of the sudden he could feel his heart thudding in his chest. “Fuck, dude, I don’t know.”

Brennen’s smile dropped at the distress in Colby’s voice, and he leaned forward to be closer to Colby again. “Hey man, breathe, okay?”

Breathe? He was breathing. Might have been a little faster than normal but… “Fuck, Brennen…” Colby laughed, and he knew when he heard it that the laugh came out breathy and almost a little hysterical. Fuck, he was panicking, he could feel the tightness in his chest, the shaking in his hands...

“Colby, brother…” And then Brennen was kneeling in front of him, having gripped his hands and forced them to stop his nervous fidgeting. “Hey, it’s gonna be okay, okay?”

“I… I just…” And Colby shook his head. “Brennen…”

“Everything is gonna be okay,” Brennen promised, squeezing his hands, “Look at me brother, and breathe, _please_ ,” And Colby knew Brennen hadn’t Alpha voiced him, but he felt compelled to look at Brennen almost like he had. Brennen’s gaze was sincere and earnest when he said, “Nothing changes with me, dude. If you don’t want this, we don’t have to do any of this. We can just stay friends and nothing else.”

And that caused a funny little feeling to wiggle through his chest. “I don’t know what I want,” Colby whispered, “All of this just fucking happened and my fucking body is just like…” He let out a strangled noise, trying to sort through the chaos of emotions coursing through his head. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Brennen promised quietly. “It’s gonna be okay, dude. Take all the time you need.”

“Fuck…” Colby breathed, and he sighed, dropping his head with a groan. “This is just… so much.”

“You’re good, dude. Promise.” There was quiet for a moment, and then Brennen asked, “You want a hug or something? I don’t want to over step but uh- oof!” The rest of his sentence was cut off when Colby pulled Brennen into him. Brennen chuckled a little bit in his ear, but he didn’t draw back, just holding Colby against his chest.

“God, fuck…” Colby muttered, “This is… I’m sorry.” Because he was losing his shit in front of Brennen.

“Hey, seriously, no worries,” Brennen murmured back. “You’ve kinda had a lot thrown at you in the last few days. Completely understandable. Fuck knows I was nowhere near functional after I presented.”

“But you presented as Alpha,” Colby said quietly, “You presented as Alpha, and your body changed but like, not that much. I don’t…” He let out another hurt laugh, “I don’t feel like I understand my body anymore, and that's like… not even counting all of this omega shit that I have to deal with, the triggers and prejudice and I just… fuck…” He pressed his forehead back into Brennen’s shoulder.

Brennen took and let out a deep breath. “I know,” He murmured back, “It’s uh, it’s a fucking lot. I can’t even imagine.”

“I can get pregnant, Brennen,” Colby said, and his voice sounded lost and broken to his ears. “I can… if someone fucks me, and neither of us are on birth control then…” He shook his head. “I don’t fucking know, man. It’s all just fucking unreal.”

“It’ll be okay,” Brennen repeated, stroking his back. He shifted a little bit, and Colby started to let go, but Brennen hugged him even tighter. “When do you go to see the doctor? About all of this.”

Colby swallowed hard against the anxiety in his throat. Fuck, plans, plans. That was how he was going to handle this. How he handled everything unexpected in his life: by coming up with a plan. “I’m gonna call someone on Monday. Tara recommended a clinic just outside LA.”

“Good, good,” Brennen nodded, finally letting Colby draw back. He didn’t go far though, still kneeling on the ground next to him.

“Yeah,” Colby agreed, “Tara said they’ll uh… make sure everything developed normally.” He cringed, because Tara had been very blunt about how that worked, speculum description and everything.

“They’re gonna…” Brennen pressed a finger through a circle his other hand made. Colby nodded on a grimace. “Fuck that…” Brennen muttered.

“Gotta happen though, I guess,” Colby said, shrugging in resignation. “Tara said that there’s a lot of shit that can go wrong with that kinda shit and uh… I’d rather not chance it.” Something about the uterus not developing normally, mentions of tumors and other malformations. It was enough for Colby to not be putting off going in. Because if he was going to have to have this anatomy for the rest of his life, he’d better make sure it wasn’t going to kill him.

Even if he did have to deal with the speculum and foreign fingers up his ass.

“And they’ll get you on birth control, right?” Brennen asked, mercifully breaking him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, that’s the plan,” Colby said, “Hopefully uh… the birth control will help regulate my cycles a little bit.”

“And mine too,” Brennen quipped, but immediately winced. Because there it was again, the topic that had started this whole panic thing.

The whole soulmate thing.

Colby looked down at his hands, then back up at Brennen. “What do you want to do about that?” He asked, and he was sure Brennen knew what he was really asking.

Brennen sighed. “Look, dude, I think you’ve got enough going on right now without adding me into it.”

“Oh…” And that was a response Colby hadn’t expected. He hadn’t expected Brennen to just… he didn’t know what he had expected.

“Not that I don’t…” Brennen groaned, “Okay, so Imma be honest here okay?” Colby nodded. “My Alpha wants you. Like, that was the whole biting thing earlier. He wants you, and wants to claim you and all of that shit.”

Colby managed to swallow down the leap of joy that his omega did in his chest. _His Alpha wanted him, his Alpha wanted him…_ but Colby shoved it all down, because his human side was still all too overwhelmed and confused for this. “I uh… I’m in about the same place,” Colby responded honestly. “My uh… my omega wants you.”

A teasing smirk lit up Brennen’s face, “Kinda figured when you moaned earlier.”

“Fuck you, Brennen.” Colby shot him the bird.

“But anyway,” Brennen waved him off, “I uh…” And his tone dropped again, “Like… I feel really strongly about you… in some way… and it’s always been in the best friend way but... since you presented omega…” He sighed. “Something changed. And like I feel bad but that changed something with us, and the way I feel about you, and that’s fucking stupid because it shouldn’t but…”

“No, no… I get it,” Colby said, and unbelievably, he really fucking did. Because he was experiencing something similar. Because there was something powerful in his chest when he thought of Brennen. Something that sat in the same place that his friendship with Brennen had always sat.

Because Brennen had been one of his best friends for years.

But now his omega was happily calling for its mate. And he thought Brennen’s Alpha might be doing the same thing. “I just don’t know where to go from here, I guess,” He said quietly.

“Nothing _has_ to change,” Brennen reminded him. “Nothing.”

Something distressed came from his omega side. “I know…” Colby said, biting the inside of his lip. “I just don’t know if I _don’t_ want it to…”

And Brennen looked at him, and there was something dark and Alpha in his eyes that Colby’s omega immediately responded to, Brennen shifting forward just a hair as his scent spiked and then-

“Fuck!” Brennen stood up, tearing himself from Colby and walking about ten feet away. “What the fuck did you do?” He demanded once he’d stilled again.

“What do you mean?” Colby asked in bewilderment.

“You just fucking…” Brennen growled out a frustrated noise and Colby’s omega shrank back, wondering what it had done to piss of it’s Alpha… “You smell like crack,” Brennen retorted.

“What does crack smell like…?”

“You know what I meant,” Brennen rolled his eyes, shaking himself and moving back over towards Colby. “Look, I’m sorry. Those omega hormones are fucking powerful.”

“Trust me, I know,” Colby said dryly.

“God, I just… fuck…” He paced in a circle for a moment, before returning back to Colby. He sat heavily down on his pool chair. “So… you don’t know that you don’t want it to?” Brennen quoted back at him, watching him.

“I…” Colby sighed, pressing his hands into his face. “Okay, maybe we just… see what happens?”

“See what happens?” And Brennen sounded doubtful, and so Colby had to move his hands to look at his friend’s expression. “What do you mean?”

“‘Cause like…” And he struggled for words for a moment, before he accepted that most of this was just going to be word vomit anyway and started talking, “A lot of stuff just changed, and I’m… I’m still figuring out what this… omega thing means for me,” Colby said, slowly realizing that maybe even if he didn’t know what he _wanted_ , he could figure out what he needed. “I think I need to like, figure that out before uh… before _we_ change anything, you know? Because uh... “ He laughed nervously, “Because I’m feeling some kinda way about you dude, but I uh… I don’t know how much of that is like, hormones and how much of that is me, you know?”

“Yeah, I gotcha, bro,” Brennen nodded, and he looked… relieved? More at ease? A little bit sad? “I mean, I’m feelin’ some kinda way too, but uh…” He laughed, “Fuck, man, just feels wrong that it’s right after you presented.”

“I uh… I know what you mean.” And he did. He really, really, did. “Okay, so, cool,” Colby nodded, taking and releasing a breath. “So… we just act normal?”

Brennen snorted, “When have we ever acted normal?”

Colby laughed in agreement, “True. But like, you know… just go like nothing changes. Unless it does.” He shrugged, “Give our genders time to like… settle out and shit.”

Brennen crossed his arms over his chest, looking out over the pool, “Yeah, makes sense to me. But uh… I gotta ask…” Colby nodded for Brennen to continue. “What if things do change?” He looked back at Colby. “Are you okay with that?”

And Colby considered it, he really did, as his omega chanted _yes, yes, yes, yes, yes_ in his chest. “If it’s a good change,” He decided finally, meeting Brennen’s eyes. “Then yeah. I’d be down.” And that was a truth he felt in his heart.

An affectionate smile tugged at Brennen’s lips. “Cool,” He said, “Cool.”

“Cool,” Colby echoed him, feeling a little stupid, but Brennen’s happy grin was worth it.

And that was the first time he realized that his omega might not be the only one who had feelings for Brennen…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish there were more to this chapter, but I had such a hard time with this one. I rewrote the last half of the chapter three times, and I'm still not sure I'm entirely happy with it. But I'm happy *enough* with it and I'm ready to stop staring at it. 
> 
> So anyway, hope you guys enjoyed and that the worldbuilding is still working. Not really sure where the next few chapter will take us so we'll all find out together, huh?
> 
> A thank you to personaljunkdrawer and anonymous Brolby for the reviews on the last few chapters. You guys make my day and assure me I'm still doing something right. I'm usually pretty sure everyone's going to hate the chapter when I release it lol
> 
> Alright, as always, let me know what you think, and I'll see you in the next one.


	7. Chapter 7

_“You wanna watch a movie or something? I’ll buy pizza.”_

_Colby nodded, casting an appreciative look at Brennen. “Yeah, that would be good…”_

_Brennen grinned at him, and the setting sun set off the hues of gold and green in his eyes. His Alpha friend reached down to pull Colby up from where he’d stuck his feet in the pool. His grip was warm, and Colby found himself grateful for the grounding the grip gave him._

_It still kinda felt like the world was spinning out from under him sometimes…_

Colby let out a long breath. The tile of the roof was textured and still warm from the heat of the day under his feet. The backyard sprawled out under him, lit with tiki torches and string lights. Colby would turn them off when he went to bed. 

Whenever that ended up being.

He pulled his phone out his pocket glancing at the time. 1:33 in the morning. At night? _Yes_ , he answered himself internally, putting his back in his pocket and staring back out at the inflatable dog. “You got any answers?” He asked it rhetorically, not expecting an answer.

That’s why he about jumped out of his skin when there was one. “Probably not.”

Colby’s head jerked around to see that Kat had wandered out to the balcony that gave him roof access. “You scared the shit out of me.”

Kat did manage an apologetic smile. “Sorry,” She said, and her hands were buried in the pockets of some joggers, a sports bra on her upper half. “What’s up?”

Colby pressed hair out of his eyes, turning back to the backyard. “Just hanging out,” He said, not wanting to dump the mess that was his brain on Kat. 

Kat paused for a moment, narrowing her eyes at him. Colby expected to be called on his bullshit, but she just commented instead, “You probably shouldn’t be out there. One of you is going to fall off this roof one of these days.” Her tone was light, passing, like she could have been discussing the most casual thing.

Colby snorted, but shrugged. “Maybe.”

Kat was still staring at him, and then she climbed over the railing, her bare feet giving her enough traction to not to slide down the roof. Colby’s eyes followed her as she stepped carefully over to him, settling down next to him. She just looked out to the yard with him, not saying anything for a few moments. Something buzzed past his ears. He could hear a car drive by their place. Humidity and warmth settled into his skin like an old, familiar blanket.

Just another quiet, LA night.

“Where’s Sam?” He asked finally, breaking the quiet.

“Sleeping,” Kat said simply.

“Why’re you out here then?”

She shrugged, “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Huh.” He left it there for a moment. Another bug flew by, Kat swatted at a mosquito. It was quiet. Peaceful.

“How’d it go with Brennen?”

Colby felt a breath catch in his throat. She wasn’t looking at him, but he knew all of her attention was on him.

Did Kat know about the soulmate thing?

“You uh… he told you about the soulmate thing, right?”

Thankfully, she nodded, and there was none of the cagey possessiveness that had been in Sam’s eyes. “He did,” She said, “With you and him, and you and Brennen.”

Because Sam told her just about everything. Not that he had any issue with her knowing. They were probably past that whole privacy thing at this point.

_If they hadn’t been before the whole heat episode they definitely were now…_

He took a breath.

_Well, how had it gone with Brennen earlier?_

“Cool, so…” He let the breath out past his lips, intentionally controlling the speed with which he released it. “I mean, could have gone worse?”

“So not great?”

“No, no, I mean… it went as well as I could have expected,” Colby revised. “He uh… he was really cool about the whole thing. I uh…” He watched the reflections of the electric lights and torches bounce and dance on the water of the pool. “I told him that uh… I can’t have anything change right now. That I need to uh… figure my shit out first.”

Kat nodded. “I think that’s a good idea.”

Colby released another breath and nodded. “Yeah… I think it’s for the best.” He glanced at her briefly, “How’d you know he was over?”

“Smelled him in the movie room,” Kat answered, “It’s where I went looking for you first.”

Colby nodded. So she had been looking for him. He’d figured that.

“You guys will be okay,” Kat said, pulling a knee to her chest. “There’s… there’s something, with you two, I think.”

Colby looked at her, feeling surprise burst in his stomach. “Like what?”

Kat shrugged. “Just, something. Like, if you two ended up being a thing? I could see it.” She looked at him, “And I’d support you.”

“I…” And that was a confusing mix of emotions in his chest, so he looked away. “Thanks, Kat.”

“Of course,” Kat said, and her tone was matter-of-fact. As if there was no other option.

But him and Brennen being a thing… that was something he couldn’t think about right now.

Brennen was confusing. Because Brennen had always been easy. A simple piece in Colby’s brain. Because his friendship with Brennen had always been easy, with no brands or business riding on the line, or financial dependency, any of the stuff that had just been the nature of his friendship with Sam… Brennen had always been a welcome fresh breath of air.

And now, while maybe the whole soulmate thing explained why that had always been so easy, it now brought new complications he had no idea how to tackle.

A plane flew overhead, the flashing lights momentarily distracting him. When he looked back at Kat, she was staring at him. “What?” He asked, suddenly self conscious. Because the way she was looking at him… it was like she was trying to stare into his soul.

One of the sides of Kat’s mouth tugged upward. “Just…” She pressed her lips inward, looking away before she spoke again. “Sam’s worried about you.”

Colby huffed a breath. “Figured he was.” Felt like everyone was, honestly. But Sam… that was a different kind of worry. The way… the Alpha was looking at him now. It was just a little different… off…

Because Brennen was doing it too.

Why… why did he have to present as an omega and change everything?

“You guys okay?” Katrina’s voice was quiet, almost like she could read his thoughts.

And Colby let out a sigh that came out a little like a groan. “I mean, he says we’re okay and that nothing’s different but…” He chewed on the inside of his mouth

Kat nodded. “Something changed?”

Colby shrugged, not wanted to commit to that. “I don’t know? Maybe? I mean, it’s probably just our genders settling out again like they had to when he presented but…” He lifted his shoulders again. Because with him presenting, so many other things had come to light.

“I know… I know he is having a bit of an issue with his Alpha, where it comes to you,” Kat said quietly, and Colby met her eyes. “But I mean… you know as well as I do how terrified he is of his Alpha side. I don’t think he’ll let it get out of control.”

Colby nodded. Because he knew that. He did. He trusted Sam, after all. Unequivocally. His human side knew that.

But his human side also feared that his omega side might not know that. And that while their human sides might be fine… their secondary genders might not.

Because if Sam stayed this fucking weird and possessive… he didn’t know what he’d do.

“I just… I feel like shit keeps fucking happening to me,” He said, gesturing. “In the last week I’ve fucking… presented as omega, found out my best friend is my platonic soulmate and my other best friend is my romantic soulmate…” He laughed a little bit, but there was no joy in the sound. “Just… what could be next?”

Kat didn’t laugh. She just wrapped her arms around her knees. “Well, if you need anything…” She said quietly, “I promise I don’t see you any differently. And I’m not going to let anyone else treat you like anything’s changed, okay?”

And Colby looked at her, and he could see nothing but truth and promise in her eyes. No protective, caged worry like he saw from Sam, no comfort but with a little edge of expecting _more_ like he was starting to get from Brennen. Kat… seemed like she honestly just wanted to help him. And that was when he allowed himself a little smile. “Thanks, Kat,” He murmured.

She smiled back at him softly. “Of course, Colby…”

He huffed a but of a laugh, turning his gaze back out to the back yard. His brain turned over the rest of the evening in his mind, lounging in the movie room. Colby had sat a few feet from Brennen initially, still feeling a little awkward from the conversation earlier, but Brennen hadn’t let that stay. After Brennen had insisted on getting up to get the pizza-

_“Nah, nah, nah, I got it, you stay…” Brennen had insisted, moving rapidly from the couch. “Pick us out a movie.”_

_“Then you don’t get to bitch if you don’t like it.”_

_“Shut the fuck up, Brock, I never bitch…”_

_“Fuck yeah you do…”_

-Brennen had come back with two piping hot pizzas, crashing down right next to Colby. And there was a brief moment where Colby’s omega had scented _Alpha_ , but the reaction to the scent was almost immediately overpowered by pizza.

That and Colby immediately shoving his omega to the back of his mind.

Brennen didn’t seem to react to the proximity, grinning as he dug into the pizza. And if his scent spiked a little bit, Colby ignored that too.

They weren’t going to change anything.

_“Yo, is this OG Pewdiepie?”_

_“You gonna judge me on that too?”_

_“Hell no, man, play that shit...”_

And if Brennen’s thigh ended up pressed against Colby’s by the end of the night, neither of them said anything.

“What are you smiling about?” Kat’s voice brought him back to the present. 

He looked at her, unable to entirely compose his face. “Nothin’,” He said.

She quirked an eyebrow at him, but looked back out to the yard. She left it at that.

And the LA night passed around them.

And then it was Monday morning, and Colby and Tara found themselves in the waiting room of a Wellness Clinic just outside the city. The same practice Tara’s friend worked at.

Colby was still on edge, and his empty stomach wasn’t making things better. “I don’t like this, Tara,” Colby said for the umpteenth time.

Tara sighed, crossing her arms tighter over her chest. “You’ll be fine,” She promised, “Just a little speculum and chill and we’ll be fine.”

Colby cringed. “Don’t remind me.”

“Then stop complaining.” Tara glanced at her phone. “Nadja’s really cool. She’s one of the few omega doctors in the state. She’s done a couple of videos with me in the past.”

“Okay, okay…” And that did make Colby feel better, that there wouldn’t be some Alpha between his legs poking around. Not that he wasn’t sure that they would be professional but… still made him a little nervous.

God, and this was just Tara’s normal...

“Any time I ever gave you shit for being nervous around Alphas… I take it all back, I fucking get it,” He spoke his thoughts aloud to Tara.

Her lips pulled back in a grin, but there was no humor in her eyes. “You’re good,” She shrugged. “Welcome to the club.”

“Fuck…” Colby muttered, glancing absentmindedly at his phone, not even seeing what he was looking at. _Fuck…_

“Cole?” And Colby looked up to see a pretty woman in pink scrubs looking at him. Colby felt his heart sink. His turn.

“You want me to go with you?” Tara asked as he stood.

“I uh… I think I’ll be good,” He said shakily, pushing his phone into his pocket.

“Okay…” Tara watched him, “Call me if you need anything, okay?”

“‘Kay…”

And he wandered over to the girl in the pink scrubs, trying not to freak out.

_It’s just a normal appointment. Nothing to worry about…_

_Except the speculum up my ass…_

“Hey, my name is Kim,” The woman introduced herself, and her voice held the faintest spanish accent. Her scent revealed her as a beta. “I’m going to be getting you ready for Dr. Atkinson, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Colby said, and he summoned up a fake smile.

_It would be fine..._

“And if you’ll follow me right this way I’ll get some vitals and bloodwork from you, okay?”

And once the vitals and blood had been taken, Colby found himself in an exam room, munching on a protein bar that was going to be his breakfast today. Stupid fasting labs… Maybe he’d get some real food later.

Kim had been more than pleasant, chatting along with him as she’d gotten the information she needed. The only part that had caused him any unease was then she’d asked about the date of his last heat.

Because he’d reluctantly marked the omega slot on the intake paperwork earlier…

_“Last one and first one, started about a week ago, ended Thursday.”_

He’d seen her eyes move from his chart to him, and back, clearly doing the math. “Huh, alright,” Was all she’d said before she moved on with the rest of the questions.

The best he could have hoped for really. He just wanted this to be over.

He heard a knock at the door. “Come in!” He called, putting his phone down and steeling himself.

“Hi, Cole, my name is Dr. Nadja Adkinson,” A dark skinned woman in tan scrubs and a white coat entered. She extended a hand, which Colby shook automatically.

“Colby, nice to meet you.”

“Tara’s told me a lot about you.” She moved past him and logged into the computer sitting next to him. And, like Tara had said, Colby could smell what was distinctly omega on her.

His stomach unclenched just a little bit.

“Tara’s a good friend,” He said, trying to relax. “She uh… I really don’t know what I would have done without her.”

The doctor nodded. “She’s done a lot of education and activism for the omega community, which I will always admire her for.” Colby nodded, not missing that this was his community now too. The doctor seemed to take his silence as a cue to move onto the office visit. “So, you presented about a week ago, right?” She started, “Tell me about that.”

And so he did. He filled her in on everything, answered her clarifying questions as she asked them. Once he stopped talking, she was quiet for a moment, looking over her notes and very clearly thinking. Colby just fidgeted with his rings. “So… me presenting this late… that uh… that’s not normal, right?” He asked.

Dr. Atkinson sighed. “It’s not the average,” She seemed to acknowledge reluctantly, “But I wouldn’t call it abnormal. Just means there are a few more things we need to watch.”

“Like what?”

The doctor turned to look at him. “I won’t know much until your blood results come back,” She said, “Late presentations can be indicative of some hormone imbalances.”

“Which means…” Colby pressed.

“Nothing too serious, in most cases,” Dr. Atkinson answered, “Some irregularity in heats, some complications with pregnancy…”

Something in Colby’s gut clenched up at those words while his heart rate jumped in his chest.

“In some cases it can cause increased risks of cancer in your reproductive system, but mostly it’s just… inconvenient,” She smiled at him, and it was probably supposed to be reassuring, but his stomach still felt like it was cramping.

“So how do I control the hormones?” Colby asked, trying to come up with a plan. “In case they are… off.”

“Which, they may still be normal,” Dr. Atkinson added, like she was trying to placate him, “It’s just something I’m thinking about as a possibility.”

“Then I have to think about this as a possibility,” Colby said firmly, jaw tight, “Because I have… shit to do and… sorry…” He apologized quickly at the swear.

“You’re okay,” The doctor assured him, and now she was looking at him with concern in her eyes. And he was still wearing clothes right now, but he still felt almost naked under her gaze.

He looked away, swallowing his discomfort. “Don’t you need to examine me or something?”

“I do,” She said. There was something else in the dark eyes that looked at him, but she seemed to let it go for now. “I’ll have you undress from the waist down, and hop up on the table, okay?” She rose to her feet, opening a cabinet and pulling a paper drape down. “You can put this over your lap.”

“Okay…” He said quietly, taking the paper. “Thanks…” And he felt like an asshole now, but he withstood the urge to apologize.

“I’ll knock when I’m back,” Dr. Atkinson said, and she left the room.

Colby stared at the drape in his hands, then down at his jeans. “Fuck... “ He breathed. “Fuck, fuck…”

But he got undressed anyway.

When his phone buzzed, he wasn’t sure who to expect, but interaction from anyone had to be better than focussing on the cold feel of the exam room paper under his bare ass... He opened the text message without really thinking about it.

It was Brennen, sending him a selfie with him and Kobe with the text, _Kobe says hi!_

Colby laughed just a little bit under his breath, the image breaking the ice that had settled in his chest. God damn Brennen and his cute dog. _Give him love from me!_

He paused for a moment and then sent, _And thank you..._

 _Sure thing, bro_. Because Brennen knew where he was right now, of course. Brennen was probably trying to get him out of his head. Which he honestly really needed.

Another knock on the door, “You ready?”

And Colby’s heart clenched again, “Yeah, I guess.”

And Dr. Adkinson walked back in, and she must have immediately seen something on Colby’s face because he saw her expression soften. “Colby…”

“I’m fine, let’s just… get this over with, okay?” He tried for a smile.

He failed.

But the doctor didn’t call him on it. She just moved over to set up the stirrups. He lifted his feet as she positioned them, laying his head back and pressing his hands over his face to hide the burning he could feel in his cheeks.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Dr. Atkinson commented, and she was moving something. He heard metal and paper moving. “I pretty much stare at asses and vulvas all day. Yours is not the first and it will not be the last.”

A brief, panicked little laugh escaped his chest, “Doesn’t really,” He said honestly, because his heart was still racing in his chest, and the cool breeze he could feel around his groin felt all too violating.

Things seemed to stop moving, and when Colby heard her voice again he could tell she was seated between his legs. He pressed his hands harder into his face. “Have you had anal sex since you presented?” She asked, and a gasp sucked into Colby’s lungs.

“Jesus, fuck, what?”

“You haven’t touched yourself down here since you presented, right?” Her voice was even, and when he moved his hands to glance at her, he could see that she was looking at him.

He groaned, covering his face again. “Fuck, uh, I mean… there was a toy during the uh… heat shit but uh…” He swallowed and tried to lower his hands. His face was just going to be red and he was going to have to deal with it. “But uh… not since then.”

“Okay,” the doctor nodded. “So, I’m sure Tara took you through some of the involuntary responses we have to certain things?” _We have_. Because she was an omega too. Colby had to remember that.

Colby took a deep breath, releasing it. “Yeah.”

“Well, some of us have those reactions to penetration,” She met his eyes when she told him that even as his chest tightened in panic. 

“What?” And it took him a moment to realize that choked, terrified word had come from him.

“Tara didn’t mention that?” Her face was weary, and Colby shook his head. His hands were shaking now, and he pressed them together to try to stifle that.

“No…”

“Okay…” The doctor nodded, “And you’ve felt it before?”

Colby nodded again. “Yeah...”

“So… you may have that reaction,” She sounded apologetic, and Colby let his head fall back against the table again.

“Well, then at least I won’t remember having a speculum up my ass,” Colby commented, and he heard a quiet laugh from Dr. Atkinson.

“That is true…” He heard moving again, something wet sounding, and then her voice warned him, “I’m going to start the exam, okay?”

Colby nodded, swallowing down his nerves. “Okay.”

And then there was something hard and wet and metal edging at his asshole. “Ah, fuck,” He muttered, closing his eyes.

“Not too cold, right?” Dr. Atkinson checked in.

“No, no…” He assured her, still processing the sensation himself, “Just weird, I think. Thought it would hurt more…”

“Okay, more pressure…” And Colby sucked in a breath through his nose as the end of the speculum pressed just inside him.

“Fuck, fuck…”

“And here’s the rest of it…” And then he could feel the entire metal rod of the tool inside of him.

And he was still here, still conscious and not… not swimming in that soup of hormones that most of the other triggers evoked but… it was still weird. It was still really, really weird. “Feels weird,” He muttered, shifting his hips just a little bit, unaccustomed to the sensation. He really didn’t remember much from his heat but what he did remember… felt nothing like this.

It was technically the same sensation but… this was weird. “This is really weird.”

“It feels really weird, I know,” The doctor’s tone was even, and he knew that this was not nearly as big a deal to her as it was to him. “I’m going to expand it so I can get a better look at everything okay? I need to make sure your uterine sphincter developed normally.”

“Okay…” And then her words registered, “My what?”

And then the speculum was expanding, and Colby focused on the doctor’s voice to tune out the sensation. “So, in male omegas, you have an additional anatomic feature. It’s a bit of a misnomer because it’s really more of a flap than a sphincter, kind of like your epiglottis.”

“Uh…”

“The structure in your throat that keeps food from going into your trachea when you swallow,’

“Oh…”

“So male omegas,” And the expansion of the tool had stopped, but Colby knew she was looking now, and that was all sorts of weird, “Have a flap of cartilage and muscle that prevents the contents of your bowels from getting into your uterus, and temporarily obstructs the large intestine when the body is aroused.”

Colby thought he got it, “And opens up the uterus for semen or whatever.” It would also explain why there were only slick stains on his bed when he came to and not any other bodily excretion.

“Exactly…” 

Colby jumped when he felt probing pressure at something inside of him, and then something felt like it was pressing where it shouldn’t go and he hissed in pain. “Ow…”

“Sorry…” And Dr. Atkinson did sound genuinely apologetic. “I needed to make sure the structure had detached where it’s supposed to.” She poked her head around his legs to smile at him. “Everything looks beautiful in here.”

“Doc, that’s really weird,” Colby laughed a little awkwardly, because after all, she did still have a speculum up his asshole.

“You developed very normally for someone who presented so late,” And then she was fiddling with the speculum again and Colby let out a gusty breath when she contracted it again and pulled it out. Colby shifted uncomfortably again. Now he just felt all wet and loose.

“I’m going to feel your abdomen, okay? You tell me if you’re having any pain.”

“Okay…”

“I’m going to have to feel from the inside too, is that still okay?”

Colby groaned. “Yeah, whatever, go for it.”

“Almost done,” Dr. Atkinson promised, “Okay, one-two-three…” And then there were fingers up his ass while the other hand pressed on his stomach.

“What are you looking for?”

There was a look of concentration on her face, “Just feeling to make sure all the structures are there and feel normal. Let me know if you have any pain.”

“‘Kay…”

But in the end, there was no pain, just a whole lot of weird, and when she finally withdrew her fingers she said, “Okay, you can sit up now, if you want.”

“God, yes.” While he got himself back in a semi-dignified position, Dr. Atkinson pulled off her gloves, throwing them away and pushing the tray away from his bed. Then she came to sit back in her stool in front of him.

“Well, good news, your omega anatomy looks and feels completely healthy,” There was a comforting smile on her face. “No signs of tumors, or abnormal anything.”

“Good, I guess,” Colby said, pulling the paper blanket back around him.

His ass felt weird.

“So… I assume you want to talk about birth control,” She asked him, and he nodded immediately.

“Yes.”

“So, what were you taking before? For beta birth control?”

“Just uh, just whatever that generic pill thing is…” Colby shrugged, wishing he knew the name. “You know, just uh… what was it called…”

“Don’t worry about it,” She waved him off. “You okay with another pill?”

“Yeah, I uh… I guess,” Colby shrugged, and there was something poking at the back of his head, something… something stupid really, but… he had to ask. “I guess there’s not something that will block omega scent?”

The smile fell from Dr. Atkinson’s face, an expression of regret coming to her features. The air in the room almost seemed to chill. “I don’t have anything in my arsenal that would be able to give you your beta status back, Colby. I’m sorry.”

Because of course she knew what he was really asking.

Colby grit his teeth, looking down at his feet. “I figured…” He said hoarsely.

Dr. Atkinson rolled a little closer to him. “Taking the birth control reliably, will decrease the range your scent will be detectable at,” She said softly, “But anyone who gets close…”

“They’ll still know,” Colby nodded, his voice still in his throat. “Okay…” That meant fan meet and greets, tours, just fucking going to the gym… He wasn’t going to be able to hide this. He’d have to tell everyone. “Okay…” And his hands were shaking again. He knotted them together.

There was sympathy on Dr. Atkinson’s face. “It’s not the death sentence you think it is, Colby,” She promised.

He sighed, “I don’t think it’s a death sentence I just…” Colby shrugged, despair heavy on his heart, “Just makes everything harder.”

“I know,” The doctor murmured, “I know. But it’ll get better. Just keep working with Tara on those compulsions. And if you need anything…” She held out a card. On it, Colby could see her name and contact information. “Anything at all, don’t hesitate to call me, okay?”

“Okay…” Colby nodded, taking the card and putting it into his wallet. Dr. Atkinson went to her computer.

“I’ll send that birth control to your pharmacy,” She said, “Any other questions?”

Colby took a shuddering breath. “No, I uh… I guess I’m good, for now.” He met her eyes. “I… thank you Dr. Atkinson.”

A smile pulled at one side of the doctor’s lips. “Call me Nadja,” She said, extending her hand.

Colby shook it. “Thank you, Nadja,” He said, managing to smile back just a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter had a really hard time coming. Between life and a bit of writer's block you almost didn't get this on time. Thankfully medical brain pulled through and the second part of this chapter got written.
> 
> Obviously, this is all in universe alternate physiology science, but I'm pretty proud of it. Obviously the office visit was based off of a gyno trip but I imagine in a world like this that would be how it would work.
> 
> Hope you guys are enjoying, as always. I have a lot of really fun scenes upcoming planned for this piece that I know you'll all enjoy.
> 
> Let me know what you think, and I'll see you in the next one!


	8. Chapter 8

Sam found Colby later that Monday night. He was up in his room, the door closed, but after a soft knock and a “Colby?” Sam heard Colby’s muttered permission to come in.

Sam pushed the door open and Colby turned to look at him. “Yo,” Colby said.

“Hey,” Sam said. Colby was in his bed, laptop across his lap, legs outstretched in front of him. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Editing,” Colby said, shrugging and glancing back at his computer. “Corey and I did another one of those scary text story things yesterday.”

Sam frowned. “Is Reggie busy?” Because Colby hadn’t edited one of his own videos in… Sam wasn’t sure how long. He didn’t usually have time before filming them at the last minute and everything else in his life.

“No, I just…” Colby shrugged, “Kinda uh… just wanted to do this one myself.” He looked down at the screen, “Needed to uh… take my mind off things.”

Sam nodded, even as his chest hurt a little bit. Made sense. He felt his arms, crossed over his chest, and with effort he released them. He gestured at the bed. “Can I…?”

“Yeah, go for it.”

Sam sat down on the end of the bed, crossing his legs under him. “How’d the doctor’s go?” He asked Coby quietly, knowing that Colby wasn’t going to be comfortable with this, probably.

Colby shrugged, clicking a few buttons on his laptop. “Good, I guess,” He said. “She said everything developed normally, so that’s good, I guess.”

Sam winced a little bit, knowing only a little bit of what that exam entailed and not envying Colby in the slightest. “Yeah,” Sam nodded, “Least you don’t have to deal with that.”

Colby shrugged, staring at something on his computer. “I mean, if things had gone wrong maybe they would have just pulled the whole thing out, so that would have been one less thing…” Colby’s voice was mocking.

Sam quirked an eyebrow at him, slightly concerned, “You’d want that?” Because yeah, he knew all of this was new to Colby but something that extreme… felt a little drastic.

“I… fuck, man, I don’t know…” Colby clicked another button, closing the laptop. But he still didn’t meet Sam’s eyes, staring out in front of him. “I don’t know what I want anymore.”

Sam sighed, looking down at the bed. Because yeah, taking all of that anatomy out would simplify things but also… also complicate them. Because beta didn’t smell like Alpha didn’t smell like omega didn’t smell like… someone gender-stripped, someone who’d had to surgically remove those parts, for whatever reason. Because beta was its own group of scents and hormones.

Someone without that just smelled… wrong. Sterile.

“You wouldn’t be able to have kids,” Sam said quietly, and Colby nodded. “I know you’ve always wanted them.”

Colby sighed. “Yeah, I know, I know…” He fidgeted with his hands, “I don’t think I’d ever actually like, do that, unless I had to but uh…” He shrugged, “Just went through my head.”

Sam nodded, looking away again. With how scent dependent their society was, Sam couldn’t imagine anyone going to those lengths without a serious need. Gender-stripping… it was kinda a huge deal.

Colby snorted suddenly, and Sam turned to look at him. “Sorry,” He apologized, “Just got like…” He chuckled, “Just pictured you if like… if Kat and I got pregnant at the same time.”

Sam didn’t know how Colby’s brain had gotten there, but he had to admit, that was a fucking idea. “I would die,” He stated simply. “Just… one of you would kill me, I think.” Because he didn’t have any illusions that in any situation where Colby were to get pregnant that Sam wouldn’t be hugely involved.

No matter who the other parent was.

Sam looked over at Colby, “You’d wanna, you know, do that?”

“What, kill you? Sometimes…” 

“Hey,” Sam complained and Colby snorted, but gestured for Sam to continue. “But no,” Sam shook his head. “You’d wanna get pregnant?”

Colby paused, his face twisting in some sort of mix of emotions. “I don’t know,” He said quietly. “I don’t… I don’t know, Sam. I don’t…” He shrugged, “My omega… would, but I… I don’t feel like I know what I want anymore. I don’t know.” He stared into space.

Sam nodded, glancing at his watch as it buzzed. The group chat was discussing... something. Sam had seen something about curly fries the last time he looked. “Guess I should tell the group chat, huh? Before everyone comes over tomorrow?” Colby said, glancing at his phone too.

“Maybe?” Sam offered, “Up to you?”

Colby nodded, “I think… I think I should. Not that… not that I think anyone will react badly but…” He laughed quietly, “Rather that not come up over pizza night.”

Sam nodded his agreement. “One less thing, right?” He offered.

Colby nodded an agreement. “One less thing.” But he didn’t immediately pull up his phone. And there was still one thing that Sam wanted to ask Colby about, but one that he wasn’t exactly sure how Colby was going to take it. Because he probably should have asked him about it yesterday, but he’d been out with Katrina all day, out at the beach, because Katrina had thought that him getting out of the house and away from Colby would be better for him working things through his brain.

It had been.

“How did… how did things with Brennen go?”

And he saw the tension that immediately tightened Colby’s shoulders. He glanced at Sam, and Sam knew he was looking for jealousy, for possessiveness, for any of the things that Sam had been unable to keep out of his body language last time.

And Sam’s Alpha still wasn’t thrilled with the idea of sharing  _ his _ omega, but the worst of the possessiveness did seem to be under control. And he sure as shit wasn’t going to let this tension ruin he and Colby’s friendship.

They’d been through too much for that.

Apparently, Colby didn’t see any weirdness in his face, because some of the wariness dropped from his face. “Good, good… he uh… good,” Colby said quietly.

“What’re… what’re you two going to do?” Sam asked, and he told himself that he would be worried about this whether Colby was a beta or an omega. Because Colby was his best friend and brother and so it mattered to Sam who he dated.

“We uh… agreed that it would probably be a good idea to like… not change shit right now,” Colby answered, and Sam was instantly relieved. Probably more relieved than he should have been but he wasn’t going to look at that right now.

“I… I think that’s a good move,” Sam said quietly, “You’ve uh… you’ve got enough going on.”

And Colby was staring into his eyes, but Sam met them evenly. He had his Alpha under control, god dammit. He was not going to let their genders fuck up their friendship.

“Seriously, you need anything…” Sam said, glancing away for a moment before looking back, “Let me know, okay? I don’t want to fuck us up.” He let a brief smile fall onto his face. “Even if you do end up fucking Brennen, okay?”

Colby snorted as his initial reaction, but then there was a serious look back on his face. “You’d really be okay with it?” He asked.

_ No. _ “I mean, if it’s what you both wanted,” Sam said, shrugging, “I don’t…” He sighed, because Colby’s look was still trepidatious. “Look, I know Brennen and I haven’t always had uh… the best relationship but…” He looked down at his jeans. “I know we both want the best for you, so we agree on that, at least.”

Because Brennen had already proven that. Because Brennen had already proven to Sam that he wouldn’t let his hormones control him. Because Sam could have found out a week ago that Brennen had raped Colby.

But he hadn’t. He’d found Sam and…

Sam felt like he could at least trust Brennen to have Colby’s best interests at heart.

There was a thoughtful look on Colby’s face, as he stared down into his lap. “I… thank you, Sam…” He murmured. “I don’t know where we’re going but…” And a small smile tugged at his lips. “Thanks. For supporting me.”

“Of course, Colby.” Like he would do anything else. He let the silence sit between them for a moment, before he said, “Can I hug you?” Because he needed that solid, physical reassurance right now.

“I…” Colby let out some sort of combination laugh-groan. “Jesus, dude, come here.”

And if Sam ended up sprawled across his chest in a way that wasn’t really a hug but more of a flop it was fine. Because Colby was his brother, his best friend.

This omega thing didn’t change anything.

And it was a good moment, a peaceful moment. Colby’s scent was solid in his nose, familiar and warm, the omega just an undertone to his familiar smell. They were here, they were safe.

Everything was fine.

And then Colby broke the quiet. “You uh… you up to uh, helping me practice with the omega stuff?”

And Sam’s stomach sank back into the pit of his gut. He knew Colby didn’t miss the way his expression dropped. “Yeah, we can do that,” Sam said quietly.

“We don’t have to if you don’t…” Colby tried to give him an out but Sam shook his head.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Sam said quickly, “I uh…” He laughed a little bit, “I just hate doing it to you. I mean I will,” He added, “But I hate it.”

“Not exactly a fun thing for me either,” Colby quipped, “But uh…” He shrugged, “I gotta learn to fight it. And you’re the only one I trust enough to do it.”

And sometimes Colby just out and said shit and it just pulled at Sam’s heart strings. Because every now and again he was reminded just how deep he and Colby’s relationship ran. That it wasn’t all just fucking around and pranking each other.

It was a brotherhood. Colby was his brother. Not just his best friend.

He could do this for Colby.

“Okay,” He said. “What do you want me to do?”

OOO

“Yo, Corey, is the downstairs bathroom clean?” Sam was moving around the house like a man on a mission, and Colby watched Corey roll his eyes. The two of them were lounging on the couches that following Tuesday, waiting for the inevitable influx of people that came from the about weekly pizza night.

And waiting to see how everyone would react in person to Colby’s new presentation.

The support over the group chat had been unconditional. There were the expected good-natured jibes and being a late bloomer and a couple of omega-specific jokes that Colby tried not to feel too uncomfortable about.

Tara called out the really stupid one that had come from Reggie but Colby mostly chalked that one up to a learned response from his time in the military. Colby knew military culture was not kind to omegas.

Reggie had called him and apologized later, which Colby appreciated.

“Yeah, dude, bathroom’s clean,” Corey sent Colby a long suffering look. Colby snorted quietly. “It’s just pizza night, chill.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sam muttered in agitation, leaving the room and continuing his move through the house. “Jake, did you get the kitchen?”

Corey sighed, ”Fuckin’ Alpha’s.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Colby lifted his White Claw. Corey toasted him from across the room, taking a sip of his own drink.

It was refreshing, how easily the whole omega conversation had gone with Corey on Sunday.

_ “So, omega, huh?” _

_ Colby had stiffened, looking at Corey warily. He was just passing through the kitchen, Corey editing on his laptop at the table. “Yeah.” _

_ Corey nodded, still clicking around on his screen. “Cool.” And he didn’t say anything else. _

_ Colby blinked. That was it? “That’s it?” He asked. _

_ Corey glanced at him. “You want a parade or something? Yeah, that’s it.” _

_ Colby fidgeted with a ring. “Oh… okay, cool, cool.” _

_ Corey nodded smartly. “Good.” He turned his gaze back to the computer, “Hey, tell me if this transition looks weird.” _

_ Colby wandered over, peering over Corey’s shoulder. The beta’s familiar scent was at ease, and so Colby let himself relax too. Corey pointed at the scene, “So right here, where it cuts to Jake…” _

“Every time everyone comes over it’s like he thinks they’ve never seen or trashed the house before,” Corey commented.

Colby shrugged. “I think it’s just the only time he can get the rest of us to clean,” He said jokingly.

Corey chuckled, “Good point.”

That was when Jake darted through the room. “Jake, Sam was looking for you,” Colby commented.

“I know, I’m hiding,” Jake said furtively, glancing around the room.

“Why? Did you not clean the kitchen?” Corey asked.

“It’s mostly clean...”

“Jake!” That was Sam’s voice.

“Shit,” Jake muttered, “I think I heard the door, didn’t you guys?”

Colby hadn’t. “Uh…” Corey and Colby stared at him as he darted from the room.

Colby snorted. “Sam’s gonna kill him.”

“So we’re challenging Sam to a drinking game later, right?”

“Oh hell yeah.”

Thankfully, that was when Colby actually heard a knock at the door, followed almost immediately by Jake opening it and loudly declaring, “Brother, welcome!”

Colby heard a chorus of hellos, recognizing Reggie and Cassie’s voices. HIs heart jumped a little in his chest. Everyone should be chill. 

Corey noticed his hesitance. “Everything’s going to be fine, dude,” Corey said, “Don’t worry about it so much.”

“I’m not worried,” Colby retorted defensively, and Corey rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, sure, man,” And he climbed up from the couch to go and met the new visitors. Colby groaned, but knew that this was going to happen whether he liked it or not, so he just went.

And over the next hour, Colby was repeatedly reassured by his friends that his gender presentation didn’t affect anything. Cassie and Kevin offered to beat up anyone who gave him trouble, Reggie apologized again, and everyone else either… didn’t bring it up or assured him it didn’t matter to them.

It was just… a non-issue. There were a couple of follow up questions, people making sure he was doing okay with it but… it was overall a non-reaction.

Which was a relief really. When he considered how rocky it had been with Sam and Brennen. But then, considering the whole soulmate thing and the whole… Sam’s Alpha being Sam’s Alpha thing… it didn’t surprise him.

Brennen had been invited of course, but he was busy tonight. Something legitimate Colby was sure, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about the conflicting emotions twisting through his gut. On one hand, of course he was sad that one of his closest friends couldn’t be there, but on the other… that  _ was _ one less confusing and somewhat terrifying thing he would have to deal with tonight.

The whole soulmate thing, anyway.

And then Xepher and Devyn showed up, about an hour late. By the time the two girls showed up, the party had moved into the kitchen and living room and Colby’d had to separate from the main group to go and answer the door.

Xepher stepped in first, throwing her arms around him. That was when Colby remembered that he’d totally forgotten that Xepher was an Alpha too. He braced for some sort of hormone storm, for some sort of weak knees or burst of submissiveness or something...

But strangely, there was no omega reaction to her scent, and while Xepher drew back looking confused, there was no Alpha possessiveness in her look.

“Since when have you been an omega?” She asked, bright pink eyelashes moving as she blinked at him.

Colby laughed a little nervously, still waiting for the other shoe to drop. “Since about a week ago?” Devyn stepped around her girlfriend to hug Colby as well, also taking a sniff. “Did you miss the group chat?”

“Huh, must have. Yesterday was kinda insane.” Xepher looked interested, but that was it. She wasn’t acting… any different at all. It was a nice change. “Didn’t know people presented this late.”

“I guess I’m just a late bloomer all over,” Colby shrugged, and there was no reaction from his omega. To his omega, Xepher could have been another beta. Which was weird. Why had he had such distinct reactions to Sam and Brennen then? He thought it was going to be an all Alpha’s thing.

“Guess so,” Xepher grinned at him, “Pizza here?”

So they were leaving the topic. Alright. “Pizza’s here,” Colby answered, “Might not been as hot as it was but…”

Devyn blushed a little bit, “Sorry we’re late, we got distracted…”. She looked at Xepher and Xepher sent her an exaggerated wink. She giggled in response.

Colby just grinned. They were cute. Once they’d finally stopped tiptoeing around the fact that they both had massive crushes on each other the relationship had fallen easily into place. “Where’s Griffin?” He asked, noticing that Xepher’s other boyfriend was not with them.

“He had work tonight,” Xepher shrugged regretfully. “Said he might come later if we were still going when he got out.”

“Oh okay…”

“Devyn, Xepher!” And that was Tara’s cheerful chirp. She bounced out of the kitchen, solo cup in hand. “You guys finally made it!”

“Hell yeah, we did,” Xepher said, moving her attention from Colby. “What’re you drinking?”

“There’s wine in the fridge…”

“That is what I want.”

And the girls started heading towards the kitchen. Before she entirely followed them though, Xepher stopped and looked at Colby.

“You good?”

Colby shook himself. “Yeah, I’m good.” He frowned, “Why?”

Xepher shrugged. “No reason.” And Colby might have pressed her more about it except that Sam came out from around the corner.

“Hey guys,” His host grin was on, but there was a concerned tinge to it when he turned to Colby. Devyn and Xepher chirped their hellos, moving past him into the kitchen.

“You good?” Sam asked him, quirking an eyebrow at him.

Colby nodded, “Yeah, why?”

“You look like you’re thinking about something,” Sam said, taking a step towards him, sniffing as if he could tell what Colby was thinking by smelling him.

And he was. But he wasn’t sure he wanted to share it with Sam until he had all the answers. “Just… everyone’s taken the whole omega thing really well.”

A soft smile appeared on Sam’s features. “Good. Didn’t think there would be any problems but…”

“I was still worried,” Colby said honestly.

“Me too,” Sam acknowledged. He huffed a laugh, “Glad I don’t have to beat anyone up.”

Colby snorted, “You don’t need to beat anyone up for me. I can beat them up myself.”

“Fine, I’ll hold them down while you swing,” Sam joked and Colby laughed. 

“So… Colby…” Sam started, and Colby felt his heart jump in his chest a little bit.

“Uh… yeah…?” Colby asked, not sure what to read in Sam’s eyes.

Sam cocked an eyebrow at him, “Did Jake clean the kitchen earlier?”

_ Oh boy…  _ “He said he did,” Colby said evasively, feeling a shit-eating grin open up across his face.

“Yeah, but did he?”

Colby shrugged, edging around Sam, “Maybe? You never know with Jake…”. He was not going to incriminate Jake or lie to Sam.

“Colby…”

“I mean, it could have been clean, but you know Jake…” He started to dance towards the kitchen.

“Colby…” Sam darted after him and Colby yelped out a laugh, dodging Sam and running into the kitchen where he hid behind Kevin.

“Kevin, save me!”

“What the hell?” Kevin laughed, nonetheless shielding Colby from Sam.

“Stop hiding behind other people,” Sam was grinning, as he tried to follow Colby around Kevin.

“You need me to beat him up for you?” Kevin pulled up fists, grinning now.

Colby winced a little bit but he didn’t let his smile fall. He looked to the side quickly. “Oh hey, Jake!”

Sam’s head moved quickly and Colby tore out of there while he was distracted, laughing the whole way. He heard Sam’s noise of mock annoyance, followed by a laugh as Katrina intercepted Sam with a kiss and a drink.

Colby just grinned. God, he’d missed fucking with Sam…

Maybe things were going to be okay after all. 

And that was the end of the conversation for the time. The group fell into the normal rhythm of pizza night. Kat and Colby joined Jake in his quest to get Sam drunk enough he wouldn’t yell at Jake for not “properly” cleaning the kitchen, and maybe Colby had just a little bit more to drink than he would usually, but he thought that was admissible given the circumstances.

Because at first he was just matching Sam to try to get him to drink more, but then Aryia dared him to shotgun a White Claw outside, and then he’d chugged another one because he lost at beer pong, and then he’d finished Sam’s drink because Sam had passed it to him because he was starting to feel crappy… Before he knew it, he’d just meant to take a step around Xepher, sitting on the couch, but his foot had caught on… something… and he toppled down in the couch, startling yelps out of both Xepher and Devyn.

“S’ry…” He muttered, already going to climb to his feet but the couch was tilting under him, and he couldn’t find something stable to grip into. “I’ll just… uh…”

“Hey, man, you’re good…” Xepher was laughing and he squinted at her because was she laughing at him? Rude.

“Not laughing at you…” Xepher said, still grinning. “Hey there, Colby. You having a good night?”

“”M great,” He answered, and then there were nail scratching lazily through his hair and pretty much all of the fight went out of him. He did have the presence of mind to mutter, “No pulling…”

“Yeah, of course…” Xepher said, and the nails did feel good on his scalp. He adjusted a little bit, figuring out that his head was resting in Xepher’s lap. He heard a cooing noise from Devyn, on Xepher’s other side. And he smelled Alpha, unmistakable Alpha, but it wasn’t the same intoxicating scent Brennen had, wasn’t the same reassuring and solid scent Sam had.

It was just Alpha.

The room was spinning a little bit, so Colby just closed his eyes and let the scratching on his scalp ground him. Everything was kinda fuzzy, blurred by the alcohol, and so Colby had no idea what time it was when he finally registered that someone was saying his name.

“Wha…”

“Drink this…”

“No more alcohol…” Even mostly trashed Colby still knew he should probably stop drinking at this point.

“It’s just water,” The voice assured him, “Don’t worry, you’re done for tonight.”

“That’s lame…” But he drank the water anyway. It did taste good. He opened his eyes, finding Tara kneeling in front of him. “Oh, hi.”

“Hey,” She was smiling at him. Colby blinked at her, the world slowly starting to focus again.

“What time is it?”

“Like 11:30…” Tara was looking at him evenly. “You wanna go to bed?”

Colby nodded. “Probably uh… probably a good idea…”. He shifted a little bit, looking up and behind him and finding Griffin draped over the couch and Xepher, “Oh, hey Griffin!”

“Hey Colby,” There was something in Griffin’s grin, something indulgent, and Colby got the distinct feeling people were laughing at him. He rolled his eyes.

“I’m not that drunk…”

“Of course not,” But Griffin was still grinning at him.

“Fuck you…” Colby muttered, turning back to look at Tara, who had an affectionate grin across her face.

“Come on, Colby, give me your hand, and we’re gonna get up…”

“I’m fine…” He grumbled, kicking his legs over the side of the couch and standing up just fine on his own.

Tara and Jake at his sides were’t really helping anyway.

“Uh huh, just hold onto us okay?” Jake said, and Colby muttered something belligerent but didn’t fight them. Xepher waved farewell to him, and that jogged the whole memory of the non-reaction to the whole omega/Alpha thing.

Of course, drunk Colby’s brain wasn’t super great at piecing sentences together in any way that made sense. “Hey Tara…” Colby started, as Tara and Jake started to walk him towards the stairs. “Why is Xepher weird?”

Jake snorted and Tara laughed a light bit. “I dunno Colby,” Tara said, “Same reason we all are, I guess.”

“No, no…” Colby said, frowning, “Like… like she’s an Alpha.”

“Yeah, female Alphas are pretty rare…”

“No…” Colby shook his head again. “Because like, she wasn’t like Sam or Brennen. I didn’t…” But then, he’d really only had that super strong reaction to Brennen and not to Sam after the whole heat thing had abated, but Sam was acting weird and Xepher wasn’t and… “My head doesn’t make a lot of sense…” He admitted faintly.

“That’ll be the alcohol, Brother,” Jake said knowingly, and Colby started lifting his feet a little higher, because they’d hit the stairs.

“With the omega thing…”

Tara was looking at him, and there might have been the start of understanding in her eyes, but she said, “We’ll talk about it tomorrow, when Jake and I aren’t carrying you, okay?”

“I’m walking…”

“Uh huh,” Jake said. “Come on, dude.”

And the rest of the questions slid through his fingers like the alcohol in his stomach, and Colby just focused on making it up the stairs.

He didn’t even remember falling into bed. But he must have, because when he woke up the next morning, he was sprawled on top of his bedding, his dick hard and bed wet under his ass.

“Fuck…” He muttered, and he lifted his head, expecting a violent throb from his head and spinning from his stomach but when he moved he found neither. He blinked a few times, because the evening before was trickling back into his head and he knew he had drank a lot. Like, a lot even for him.

He should be hung over as fuck right now.

Maybe he was still drunk? Maybe that was the problem?

And for the first time he hoped the wet under his ass was slick and that he hadn’t shit himself last night. He sniffed the air, just smelling the musty smell that he now recognized as slick, not the rancid smell of anything else, and he sighed, pressing his face into the pillow.

Okay… still drunk or not he definitely had to piss.

He groaned again, pushing himself up in the bed and assessing his current state. Still in the clothes from last night, apparently aroused for some fucking reason, and somehow, neither drunk or hungover.

Was this some sort of weird omega thing?

Either way, Colby was grateful he had an adjoining bathroom.

He glared his dick into submission, until it went down enough for him to pee. His ass was still grumbling something about wanting penetration, but Colby was pointedly ignoring it. He’d gotten off without something in his ass for twenty-three years. No reason to change it now.

Colby wandered back over to his bed, finding his phone still in his pocket. The group chat had exploded, probably talking about something drunkenly last night, but the texts that Colby was more concerned about were from Tara and Brennen.

From Tara this morning:  _ Hey, you up? _

From Brennen at 4am last night:  _ Hey. Kobe says hi!  _ With a picture of the little dog. 

Colby blinked at the phone, a small smile growing over his face at Brennen’s message. So Brennen had been thinking about him last night…

He’d been on Colby’s mind too…

What time was it anyway?

“Eleven in the morning… god dammit, why am I awake,” He muttered, throwing an arm over his face. Okay, time to face the world.

He stripped his bed, changing out of his clothes from the night before and heading down to the kitchen, still marveling at his utter lack of a hangover. Tara and Jake were down in the kitchen, Jake actually cooking while Tara tapped at her phone.

Colby smiled to himself.

Jake had learned to cook for her.

“Morning,” Tara said, glancing up at him, her usual chipper self. Tara didn’t seem hung over either, even as Jake grunted a hello at him. So Jake was hungover, then.

“How’s the hangover?” Tara was still talking, and Colby looked back at her.

“Uh, what hangover?” Colby asked, cocking an eyebrow at Tara.

“It’s awesome, right?” Tara asked, a grin on her face. “Faster metabolism. It’s really hard for us to get hangovers.”

“Fuck you…” Jake muttered, sending a dark glare at the two.

“Love you,” Tara chirped back.

“Love you too…”

“So omegas don’t get hangovers?” Colby asked, sitting down at the table.

“We have to drink a lot more,” Tara answered, half a grin on her face. “Our bodies are a lot better at filtering out toxins.”

“That’s… pretty fucking awesome,” Colby nodded, grinning a little bit. So there was an upside to this omega thing. Speaking of omega things…”Tara, about Xepher last night…”

Tara’s expression turned concerned. “What about her?”

“She… I didn’t…” He struggled for a moment with that he wanted to say, “I didn’t react to her like I do to most Alphas.”

Tara frowned, and then her face lit up with understanding. “No, you reacted to her like you’ll react to most Alphas. Brennen and Sam don’t count.”

“Uh… what?”

Tara gave him a guilty smile. “Probably should have told you that, huh? Sorry…”

“No, I…” Colby ran his hands through his hair, “What?”

“Tara doesn’t have super strong reactions to every Alpha we run into,” Jake explained, and the eggs he was dropping on the table looked safe if not a little messy.

“Then why…?”

“Because Brennen’s your mate and Sam’s kinda your Alpha,” Tara said, and she kept speaking before Colby could demand to know what the fuck that meant. “And not in the he’s claimed you sort of way, but in the way that our friend group is a pack and Sam is the Alpha of that pack.”

“Oh…”

Tara looked between him and Jake, “He’s technically, by like, pack standards, everyone here’s Alpha.” She rolled her eyes, “Mine too.”

And that was when this conversation started to ring a bell. “This is that pack theory shit from psych isn’t it?”

“Yup,” Tara confirmed, turning to Jake as he sat next to her with a smile. “Thank you for cooking baby…”

Jake grunted a “you’re welcome” sound, already starting to shovel pancake into his mouth. Tara’s smile was exasperated, but adoring.

Colby sighed, pressing his hands into his face. He vaguely remembered pack theory from school, but he mostly just remembered the cute beta he’d been sitting next to… “Remind me what that is again?”

Tara nodded, “So humans are pack animals right? So we kinda make packs without thinking about it.” She gestured at the three of them, “Each pack tends to have one or two Alphas, and then a mix of omegas and betas. The Alpha is kinda… the facilitator/pack leader type thing.” She shrugged, taking a pancake, “That’s why you don’t see too many Alphas in one friend group, and when you do… they each kinda keep their space.” She cut a piece absentmindedly, “Xepher’s kinda got her own thing going on with Devyn and Griffin, so she doesn’t get too territorial and Sam and Brennen, well… you’ve seen then together…”

“Yeah…” Colby winced, but that made sense when he thought about it. Sam kinda was the lynchpin of their group. He was on good terms with everyone, seemed to initiate most of the decision-making, and definitely was kinda the dad-friend. “Shit…” He muttered. “And Brennen’s an Alpha, so…”

“There’s more than just you to them not getting along great,” Tara winced. “Because Colby, whether you realize it or not, you’re Sam’s second-in-command. So uh…”

“Oh…” And it all made sense. Why the hell hadn’t he paid attention in class more?  _ Because it didn’t matter then _ , his brain reminded him, _ Because you were a beta and most of this shit only affects omegas and Alphas….  _ “So why is it different now?” Colby asked, needing to hear Tara say it, but feeling like he already knew the answer.

“Because for whatever reason, Alphas are more protective of their omegas…” Tara said quietly, “I think it has something to do with the whole super fertile thing, I forget, but you’ve always been a beta, and Sam’s second. He never really had to worry about Brennen “taking” you.” She threw up air quotes.

Colby nodded, because this was all making sense. And the sick feeling in his stomach was growing. “And now that I’ve presented omega and Brennen could claim me…”

Tara nodded solemnly. “Yeah… things are a little different now.”

Colby sighed, leaning back in his chair. “God dammit…”

That was when Colby’s phone buzzed. He glanced at his watch, seeing Brennen’s invitation to chill displayed across the screen. He looked up at Tara. She sent him a questioning look. “Brennen,” He explained. “Wants to chill.”

Tara nodded, chewing a few more times on her pancake before swallowing. “Cool,” She said. And the phrase was simple, but it was underlaid by all of the statements that she wasn’t saying.

“We’re just gonna chill,” Colby said, realizing then that he’d already decided he was going.

Tara and Jake looked at each other, then back at him. “Have fun,” Tara said, the usual chipper tone back in her voice, but Jake, of course, didn’t censor. 

“Use protection,” Jake’s tone was mostly joking, but there was some seriousness in his face.

Still startled Colby a little bit though. “Jesus Christ,” Colby sputtered, causing a peel of laughter from Jake, “Of course I… wait a minute, we aren’t…” But Jake and Tara were already laughing and Colby sighed. He wasn’t going to win this. “We’re just hanging out,” He stated, getting up from the table.

“Uh huh,” Jake waggled eyebrows at him, shoving another piece of egg in his mouth.

Colby groaned, but turned to leave, “See you two later.”

He heard their simultaneous chirp of “See ya,” Before he headed up the stairs.

“We’re just hanging out,” He repeated to himself. “Just like normal...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank everyone for bearing with me through some real life stuff last week. Between a dungeon trip and grad school applications and this chapter fighting me tooth and nail to come out... there were some delays. Hopefully we'll be back to normal updating next week. But for now, we get an early chapter, yay! Because I'm done staring at it.
> 
> So I'm not entirely sure where this story is going. I have a few scenes that I want to write, but no real overarching plotline. So uh... you're probably gonna have to bear with me again...
> 
> Alrighty, well, hope you guys enjoyed, let me know what you thought, and I'll see you in the next one!


	9. Chapter 9

“Yo, Colby, you ready to go?”

Colby glanced at the door, fidgeting with his hair a little bit more. The purple strands looked fine, he looked fine. It was really more of a nervous twitch, he knew that.

Which was stupid, really. Really stupid.

“Colby?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Colby called back to Sam, resigning himself to the fact that it wasn’t his hair he was uncomfortable with and heading out of his bathroom to meet Sam in the hallway.

Sam’s white pants and blue collared shirt contrasted dramatically with the black and silver ensemble that Colby had chosen, but Colby knew that wasn’t what caused Sam’s nose to wrinkle when Colby walked towards him. “Dude, did you like, take a bath in cologne?”

“Trying out a new bodywash,” Colby shrugged, trying to blow it off. “Is Brennen here yet?”

“Not yet…” Sam barely reacted to him bringing Brennen up. Sam’s eyes were still on him, and trepidation was slowly stealing over his face. “Colby…”

Kat interrupted him though, bouncing out of Sam’s room in something silver and cropped with white shorts. “We going?” She turned to Colby, and he watched as she also smelled the admittedly excessive cologne he’d used in an attempt to drown out the omega scent. Always more blunt than Colby expected, she commented, “Colby, you smell like a teenage boy.”

Colby snorted, shrugging a little bit. “Oops?”

And Kat also met him with that dissecting look, but she seemed to let it go, grabbing Sam’s hand. “Come on,” She tugged at him, “I need a new drink.” And she tugged him down the stairs.

Colby groaned, consciously restraining himself from running his hands through his hair. He’d just fuck it up at this point.

It was the following Friday, and the group was getting ready for a night out, Colby’s first since the whole presenting omega thing. And yeah, maybe the cologne was a little excessive, but Colby was hoping that the smell would drown out the scent of omega.

At least, enough that no one would take note of it.

He heard more voices downstairs, knowing that at least Tara and Katrina were pre-gaming, the two still not technically legal. He heard Jake hollar, heard Tara’s retort, and tried to relax. This would be fine, everything would be fine.

Everyone else would meet them downtown, and it would be fine.

And he headed downstairs.

Tara handed him a drink as soon he made it to the kitchen, and he took a swig of it without noting what it was.

And promptly started coughing. “Holy shit, Tara, what’s the content on this?” He asked, staring at the deceptively bright pink drink.

Tara didn’t directly answer, just knocking her drink against his. “Enough.”

“So you’re drugging me now?” Colby raised an eyebrow at her, making sure he kept a teasing tone. Because he had no disillusions that was the purpose of the drink.

She shrugged. “If it helps,” she answered, looking up at him. “Relax, Colby, it’ll be fine.”

Colby sighed, taking another sip, anticipating the alcohol this time. God, there had to be at least two or three shots worth in here… He swirled the drink, staring at it, his heart beating in his chest. “Can you still smell it?” He asked quietly, knowing that she would know what he was talking about.

Tara took a sniff, and he watched her wince at the strong scent of cologne. “I’m probably not the right person to ask,” She said honestly, “But uh… it's harder to pick out. In a club, people probably won’t notice.”

Colby felt a palpable level of tension leave his shoulders. “Okay, good,” He said, taking note of the weird look on Tara’s face. “What?” He asked, feeling a little defensive.

But Tara shook her head, “It’s fine,” She said, lifting her cup to tap it to Colby’s. “Cheers,” She grinned a little bit.

And Colby tried to grin back. “Cheers.”

OOO

Sam didn’t like the scent Colby had covered himself in. Where he was unconsciously expecting the comforting, familiar scent of his friend to be, Colby had clearly tried to mask it as much as he could.

He just didn’t smell right.

He got why, of course, but he still didn’t like it.

That might have been a mild way to put it. He hated it, if he was being honest with himself. He’d already gotten used to the soft omega undertones to Colby’s scene. To smell Colby trying to cover it…

His Alpha was definitely not thrilled.

“Sam,” Kat’s voice pulled him out of his head and he turned to look at his girlfriend.

“What?”

“You’re staring at Colby,” She said, taking a sip of her drink, “Might wanna stop that.”

“Fuck, you’re right,” Sam muttered, taking a sip of his drink as well and pointedly not looking in Colby’s direction. “Thanks.”

“‘Welcome,” She chirped. Brennen was over, and he and Colby were talking animatedly about something. Sam caught Brennen say something about something exploding, watched laughter take over Colby’s face. He pulled his gaze away again, groaning.

“He smells weird,” Sam muttered, leaning into Kat a little bit more. His free hand found the exposed skin between her shorts and her top, fidgeting with the fabric and skin there. “I don’t like it.”

Kat nodded, leaning into him in answer. “Figured,” She murmured.

“I know it’s because we’re going out and he doesn’t want people to know…” Sam said, eyes now down on his shoes. “My Alpha just thinks he smells wrong.”

Katrina winced, “I know.” She shifted a little bit on her feet. They were both leaning against the counter. “Just try not to not be super Alpha at him tonight, okay? He really doesn’t need that.”

Sam grimaced, because he knew that was not going to be easy. He was protective of Colby on a good day, but with Colby presenting omega and being so much more vulnerable and being around a bunch of drunk people who might…

Shit, maybe it was better that he smelled like a teenage guy discovering Axe for the first time and not omega.

“He’d be upset with me if I acted too weird,” Sam said honestly, “Just uh… remind me if I start getting like that, okay?”

Kat grinned, a sexy note coming over her face, “Oh I can think of a few ways to distract you,” She murmured, gyrating her ass against his hip just a little bit. Sam found his eyes pulled to his girlfriend’s backside, fingers on her waist tightening a little bit.

“Have I ever told you how much I love your ass?”

“You’ve mentioned it,” Kat grinned up at him, grinding again, and Sam pressed his face into her shoulder, nipping lightly at the skin there. Kat giggled, grinding one more time before she pulled away. “Later,” She promised, twisting around to press her hands to his chest and her lips to his.

Sam laughed into the kiss, “I’ll hold you to that…”

“Please do,” Kat murmured against his lips.

“Sam, Kat,” Tara’s playful tone drew both of their attention. The omega girl had her phone out, and she used it to gesture at the couple. “Uber’s almost here, let’s head outside.” Tara looked just a little north of tipsy, but the smile on her face was brilliant. Jake held her hand, his focus not entirely on his girlfriend but definitely not letting go.

Sam reluctantly let his fingers fall from Kat’s waist. “Alright, sounds good.”

“Cool,” Tara nodded, pulling Jake with her as she finished her drink and tossed it away.

Sam winced. “The trashcan’s right there,” He mourned.

Kat giggled, “We’ll get it tomorrow, okay?”

“‘Kay…” People were draining from the kitchen, ready to meet the ubers, and Sam let Kat pull him with them.

Tonight would be fine. And fun, and a much needed night out with his friends.

He just needed to not worry as much.

OOO

Colby pressed a couple of bills to his bartender, watching the man nod his thanks as he pushed two drinks to Colby and Brennen. Colby was simultaneously not paying attention to Brennen’s warm shoulder pressed against him and melting into the contact a little bit. The Alpha’s scent was the primary one on his radar, the only one close enough to not be drowned out by the cologne.

The club, as always, was a kaleidoscope of different scents. Colby was catching whiffs of all three secondary genders around him, all mixed together with the scent of sweat, musk, and alcohol. The musky scent got stronger the closer to the dance floor, but over here by the bar it was fainter.

“Thanks,” Brennen grinned at him, happily taking the other rum and coke off his hands. “Cheers,” He held his drink out.

“Cheers,” Colby responded, returning the grin and tapping his glass to Brennen’s. The world had that floaty, fuzzy feeling that came with a happy level of intoxication. He could see Tara, Kat, Xepher, and Devyn dancing together in a circle on the dance floor, Sam and Jake over to the side as they watched their girlfriends, both nursing some kind of drink.

Colby grinned. He’d needed this.

Brennen was rapping along to the song playing over the loudspeakers, but as Colby’s gaze stayed on him, he turned to meet his eyes, rapping the lyrics louder and with more emphasis. Colby laughed, turning away as he took a drink.

Brennen was a good friend.

Brennen had come over again on Thursday, bringing food and apologizing for not being able to make this week’s pizza night. It was fine, of course. Colby had fun at pizza night but he definitely wasn’t going to complain about the food and extra attention.

Because Brennen was definitely paying extra attention to him. And he wasn’t sure if it was because of the soulmate thing or just Brennen being Brennen… but he was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

Even if his omega was happily preening under the increased attention and did a little happy dance every time Brennen had touched him.

Which he was definitely overthinking at this point…

“Yo,” Brennen poked him in the shoulder, “Am I that boring you’re not paying attention to me anymore?”

Colby turned back to his friend, Brennen’s blinding grin assuring Colby that he was joking. Brennen leaned into him a little bit further. “I’m good,” Colby answered, leaning back. “Just chilling.”

Brennen gestured out to their friends on the dance floor. “You wanna dance?” And god dammit if Brennen’s grin wasn’t infectious.

Colby hesitated, because dancing meant being close to people, meant being in smelling range of other people, meant…

“Come on…” Brennen cajoled, wrapping a hand around Colby’s upper arm - _not his wrist, not anymore-_ “Let’s go, it’ll be fun, I love this song…”

Colby’s breath caught, and he met Brennen’s eyes. They were bright and excited, Brennen’s hand warm on his arm, “Dude…”

And maybe it was the alcohol giving Brennen confidence, or making Colby read too far into the Alpha’s actions, but Brennen seemed to step just a little too into Colby’s space, and Colby was still earning against the bar so Brennen’s eyes were above his when he looked up at them, but something about that moment felt charged, felt intense felt…

Different.

“Come on,” Brennen said, and Colby knew his voice wasn’t really soft because of the pounding of the music, but it still sounded that way. Brennen sent him a sly little grin. “I’ll protect you.”

Colby’s omega practically swooned. Colby just sent Brennen a disbelieving look. “I don’t need protecting,” He made sure there was a teasing edge to his voice though.

Brennen just grinned wider. “So we’re dancing?”

Colby rolled his eyes, but he threw the rest of his drink back and stood up from the bar, “Yeah, sure. Why the fuck not?”

“Hell yeah, Brother,” Brennen clapped him on the arm, and Colby let Brennen pull him towards where the girls were dancing.

OOO

Sam watched Colby and Brennen move towards the dance floor together, and his Alpha grumbled something possessive even as Sam was relieved. He’d been a little worried Colby was going to hide in the corner all night.

He was just glad that Brennen was here to talk Colby out of that idea. 

Brennen and Sam had had a very short conversation when Brennen first arrived. It had been short, but had covered all the bases they needed to. 

_“No matter what happens,” Sam had said, as soon as he was pretty sure Colby wasn’t in earshot. “We keep him safe, okay?”_

_Brennen had just nodded. “Of course,” He promised, and Sam wasn’t sure he had ever heard that tone in Brennen’s voice before. Just a faint undertone of his Alpha but all serious. “No one’s gonna fuck with him tonight.”_

_Sam nodded back in response. Because he and Brennen may not have the best relationship, but they could agree on that._

_They would keep Colby safe._

Jake’s eyes were also on the girls. Sam knew they were good at keeping each other safe, and Xepher being with them didn’t hurt things, as Sam knew people tended not to fuck with any of them as soon as Xepher let her Alpha show.

That was, except for the few fetishists who decided that female Alpha was their new kink…

“How do you do it?” Sam asked Jake quietly, watching as Colby and Brennen started dancing, watching Brennen position himself slightly behind Colby, as if covering his back. He gave a small smile of appreciation.

Maybe he and Brennen would end up okay with this after all…

“Do what?” Jake asked, taking a sip from his drink. He and Tara had coordinated, both wearing black and neon pink. Sam watched Jake drag his gaze from Tara’s dancing form with effort.

Sam gestured out towards where their friends were dancing. “Just… with Tara, don’t you like… worry?”

“About what?”

“About…” Sam shrugged, gesturing out to her.

And then Jake seemed to figure it out. “Because she’s an omega?” He asked, frowning.

“I… yeah…” Sam muttered, a little abashed but not enough to not ask the question.

Jake didn’t seem to mind though. He just shrugged, crossing his arms. “She can take care of herself.”

“You aren’t afraid someone’s gonna like… use that against her?”

Jake shrugged again. “I mean, yeah. But uh… she’s proven she can fight most people off. At least enough to make a scene.” He snorted, “And those fuckers who’d try to take advantage of her don’t want a scene. It’s why they use the triggers.” He eyed Sam. “This is about Colby?”

“I… yeah…” There was no point in denying it.

But far from judging him, Jake just nodded. “Yeah, I get it. Worries me too.”

“Okay, cool…” So he wasn’t the only one.

“You guys have been practicing right? With the triggers?”

Sam nodded, grimacing at the memories - _Colby’s face going slack, his knees giving out, being unable to answer Sam for way too long-_ “I fuckin’ hate it…”

Jake nodded. “I feel you, brother…” He took an uneasy sip of his drink, “How’s he doing?”

Sam sighed, crossing his arms. “I mean, he still can’t fight me on them,” He said honestly. “But he’s coming out of it faster, I think.” But maybe that was just wishful thinking.

“He‘ll get better, with practice,” Jake said firmly, looking out to the crowd idly.

“How long is it gonna take though, that’s what I worry about,” Sam said, shifting on his feet. “We can’t just not tell people forever. It’s been two weeks and I know not telling people is just going to get harder. And I worry…” How long would it take for Colby to be safe, really safe, alone in public again?

“I know,” Jake acknowledged, “But lets not worry about that tonight okay? We‘ve all got him. ‘Sides, I’d like to see someone try to get past you and Brennen,” Jake said, chuckling a little bit. He eyed Sam with a half a glance, “You’re scary when you’re angry.”

Sam gave a wry smile, feeling heat in his face. Because Jake was right. For all that Sam would avoid a fight if possible, his Alpha really would fuck someone up if properly provoked.

Precisely what would happen if anyone were to put Colby in danger.

Sam watched Brennen snarl a little bit at someone who got too close to Colby, then grin back at Colby when his friend sent him a questioning look. Tara was dancing with Colby, holding his hands and bouncing while the other girls clapped and danced around him. Brennen watched them all, clearly in protective mode.

“Yeah…” Sam agreed, shifting on his feet. “Just don’t let me get arrested again, okay?”

Jake snorted. “Okay, man,”

And then Kat had separated from the group. Sam watched her approach, curious what she was doing. “Hey babe, what’s…” And then his voice was cut off when she pressed her whole body against him, pulling him down and kissing into his mouth. Sam let out a reflexive groan, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Gross,” He heard Jake complain, but he didn’t stop, pressing his hands into the pockets on Kat’s shorts. Her body was hot and tight against his and fuck he loved her…

Kat broke the kiss to look up at him through her false eyelashes. “Come dance with me,” She said, pulling just back out of his grasp. Sam looked at Jake, who shrugged, and then back at Kat, grinning at him.

“Okay,” Seemed like the only logical response.

And he followed her out to the dance floor.

OOO

Colby laughed, grinning as Brennen spun him under his arm in a circle. He found his footing again, finding Brennen’s eyes. “Why do I always have to do the girl part?”

“Because I’d fall over,” Brennen said confidently, spinning Colby again.

“Like I haven’t…”

“I caught you!”

“I almost died.”

“No, we both almost died because you almost fell off the pier.”

“You’re the idiot who spun me near a pier!”

Brennen seized his waist, holding him still as Colby got control over his balance again. Brennen was laughing, but so was Colby, so it was fine. His hands were warm against his body, his shirt having ridden up on one side so Colby could feel the skin of his hand against the skin of his abdomen.

And he was drunk and having fun so it only briefly occurred to Colby to imagine Brennen’s hand pressing past the hem of his jeans and _in_ , but…

It was definitely a thought.

Colby glanced briefly at Sam to make sure Sam was okay with this whole thing but Sam seemed very distracted by the way that Katrina had plastered her backside to his front, grinding against him to the beat of the music, Sam’s nose tucked into her neck. Kat, however, threw him a smile and a thumbs up, before threading her hands back into Sam’s hair. Colby smiled, turning his attention back to Brennen, who was casting a worried look at him.

“You good?”

And maybe it was the alcohol, and maybe it was his omega making its voice just a little louder, but maybe, somewhere deep inside, it was just Colby, moving in an all but inevitable direction. Colby shifted closer to Brennen, close enough that he could feel Brennen’s body heat even in the stifling heat of the club. “Yeah, I’m good,” He murmured, and when he met Brennen’s eyes, there was something Alpha and omega there, yeah, but something a little bit more too.

Brennen sniffed in a breath before he let out a short growl, “You’re doing the pheromone thing again,” Brennen warned him, even as Brennen’s fingers tightened on his hips.

“Sorry,” Colby apologized quickly, knowing that he should step back, that it was the alcohol and his second gender calling the shots right now but he really didn’t want to. Not when Brennen’s Alpha scent was so comforting in his nose.

Brennen shrugged, and there was tension in his shoulders, but his grin was easy. “Just means I can finally smell _you_ again,” He remarked. “And not that stupid cologne.”

And Colby was a little alarmed by that statement, because if Brennen could smell him everyone else probably could too, but then Brennen continued, “And you smell _so_ much better.”

Colby cracked a teasing smile, “Well, I do try…” And Brennen was looking at him, and there was some sort of fire in his golden-green eyes, and Colby’s omega just wanted to wiggle up to it’s Alpha, snuggle into him the way Kat and Sam were.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the music changed, a fast paced dance beat taking over the club and Colby heard a collective cheer at the popular song. “Holy shit, I love this song!” Brennen called, and he released Colby’s waist to bounce back into a jumpy sort of dance.

Colby laughed, full throated, joining Brennen in dancing, jumping up and down to the new song. He let the intimate moment fade, because he and Brennen had their intimate moments, but they also had their batshit crazy moments.

And right now, he just wanted to enjoy the night out with his friends.

OOO

It was almost two-thirty am when the group made it back to the trap house. Sam had to be careful climbing out of the car, because Kat had spent most of the Uber right home fondling him. And he was very definitely going to get her back for that, but he had one thing to take care of first.

Colby and Brennen were very on their way to plastered, and Sam figured that Brennen would be crashing here. So he needed to talk to Brennen first.

The question was how to do it without pissing Colby off...

Luckily, he got his chance when Colby almost immediately went for the bathroom, leaving Brennen laughing and teasing him in the foyer.

“Wait for me upstairs, babe,” He murmured to Kat, “I’ll be real quick, okay?” Kat giggled, pressing in close to give him one more searing kiss, gripping around his cock through his pants. Sam groaned into her mouth, “Fuck… baby…”

“Don’t be too long,” She murmured. “I’ll start without you…”

“I’ll be right there, promise,” He kissed her one more time, pulling away from her mouth. She tossed him one more salacious grin, heading upstairs quickly.

Sam ran his hands through his hair, trying to compose himself quickly before talking to Brennen. But Brennen was already looking at him. “Feisty, isn’t she?” He quirked an eyebrow at Sam.

“Ha, yeah…” Sam admitted, turning to face Brennen and hoping his boner wasn’t too visible through the pants. He schooled his expression, “Brennen, listen…”

And Brennen’s face turned wary, clearly expecting some sort of warning or something else from Sam, but Sam quickly assuaged that worry. “No, Brennen, I…” He sighed, “Thank you. For everything you’re doing with him.”

And Brennen looked surprised, shocked even, but a smile slowly grew on his face. “He’s one of my best friends, man,” Brennen said plainly, “It’s what I do.”

“I know, but uh…” Sam groaned, his drunk and horny brain having a hard time finding the words that he wanted to express to Brennen. Because his Alpha was not thrilled with another Alpha being this close to Colby, but his Alpha also wanted to see his omega happy. The same as Sam did.

Brennen made Colby happy. That much was obvious.

“I know you two are still figuring shit out but uh…” Sam looked down at the ground, “But uh… I uh, I trust you with him, okay?” And he looked up at Brennen.

And he could tell by the look in Brennen’s face that the other Alpha had heard everything he said… and everything he hadn’t said. Understanding fell over his face and he nodded solemnly, murmuring, “I… thanks, Sam,” He said quietly.

“Just…” And Sam felt like there was something else to say, but he didn’t know what it was, so he just nodded at Brennen, repeating, “I trust you, okay?”

And Brennen smiled, nodding. That was when Colby chose to make his entrance, stumbling out of the bathroom and immediately seeking Brennen. Then he noticed Sam, and he stiffened a little bit, watching them. “What’s up?”

“Just checking in,” Sam promised, nodding at Brennen, “You guys have a good night. And hey, Colby?” Colby looked up at him, “Proud of you.”

Colby colored a little bit and searched his eyes for a moment. He must have seen what he was looking for in them, because he let a small smile come across his face. “Thanks, dude.”

“See you in the morning,” Sam waved at both of them, heading upstairs on that note. He had a girlfriend to get to after all…

OOO

Colby looked at Brennen once Sam had disappeared up the stairs. “What was that about?” He asked. Because he knew that Sam and Brennen’s relationship was strained but that… Sam had almost seemed to be giving his approval.

Approval of what?

“He uh… just thanked me for uh, being a good friend I guess,” Brennen shrugged, but there was still a faint smile that that conversation alone wouldn’t have accounted for.

“Brennen…” Colby started but Brennen waved him off.

“I’m good, man,” Brennen grinned, “You uh, you okay if I crash tonight? Kinda late and uh… I’m still pretty fucked up…”

“Oh fuck yeah, of course,” Colby nodded quickly, “Yeah, sure, totally.” And it wasn’t the first time Brennen had crashed with him, but it was the first time since Colby had presented, since all of this had changed, since… since Colby had felt that strange electricity while hanging out with Brennen.

But of course he was overthinking it, because this was Brennen, just… just Brennen. Simultaneously the simplest and most complicated person in his life.

“I have extra shit upstairs,” Colby said, gesturing for Brennen to follow him. Brennen nodded, following him as they walked up the stairs together.

“Why did you have to move into a house with stairs again?” Brennen complained, although the grin on his face assured Colby that it was all meant with good intentions.

Colby snorted, “Because you should have seen the rate on the property that we would have had to buy if we didn’t want two floors.”

“Dude, LAs fuckin’ expensive.”

“Would have been more expensive if we moved to Hawaii,” Colby joked, because that had been the running joke for a moment. They reached the top of the stairs, turning towards Colby’s room.

“And I’d tell you what I told you then,” Brennen returned, “You’re not allowed to leave because I’d miss you too much. Then who would I ask to do stupid shit with me?”

“You’d find someone, I’m sure,” Colby said dismissively, opening his door and pausing in the doorway to let Brennen in.

Brennen stopped in front of him though, definitely in his personal space in a way that would have been uncomfortable prior to… well, maybe it wouldn’t have. But Brennen was definitely all up in his space now. Colby was breathing in the Alpha’s scent with every breath. “But I don’t wanna find someone else.” And Brennen’s nose was maybe inches from Colby’s, and something else Alpha filled the air. Colby’s breath caught.

“Brennen…”

“Can I kiss you?” And it was blunt, and out of nowhere, and Colby entirely froze.

“Uh… what?” Colby stared into his face, looking for any sign of joking, because Brennen had pulled the gay thing on him before, pretended to be interested in him before. “Are you… are you joking?” Brennen didn’t back down, just staring at Colby, waiting on an answer. “I… you… what… Why?” Colby finally stuttered out.

Brennen shrugged, and he leaned in closer to Colby. “‘Cause I wanna,” Something distinctly Alpha pulsed from him, and he rested a hand over Colby’s head on the door frame, caging him in. Colby registered this all subconsciously, sinking back lower on the door frame so that he was looking up at Brennen again. “‘Cause I’m drunk and can’t talk myself out of wanting to.” He stared into Colby’s eyes. “Do you wanna?”

“I…” Colby stared back, feeling his breath move through a throat that felt thick and tight. Something in his omega pulsed back at Brennen, saying _yes, yes, yes_ … And the rest of him wasn’t exactly opposed. “I…”

“That’s what we were talking about,” Brennen said, and he pushed infinitesimally closer, as close as he could be without touching Colby, “Me and Sam. I think, at least. I think that was him telling me he’s okay with us.”

“With us like…”

Brennen gestured between them. “Like… us, us. Trying the couple thing.”

His heart caught. “You wanna?” Colby asked, trying to listen to his brain, trying not to let the hormones of the moment overwhelm him. Did he want to kiss Brennen? Date Brennen? He wasn’t opposed but… But he couldn't really think of a good reason why not, right now, alcohol thrumming in his veins and a low buzz of something like lust starting in his veins.

Because fuck, he and Brennen had always been a little bit more, right? And with the whole soulmate thing... And Sam approved? Really? And that caused a warm feeling to bubble up in his gut.

For all that Sam and Brennen didn't get along, Sam was still okay with them dating.

Brennen shrugged in a response to his earlier question, looking a little nervous for the first time. “I uh… I uh… yeah,” He said, “I think, I mean, I’d like to, right now. And I didn’t really want to, until Sam was okay with it because he’s like your brother, and I know we’re like, not great so-”

“Brennen,” Colby cut him off. Brennen’s mouth snapped closed for just a moment, but then he chuckled nervously and kept talking.

“See, I don’t know what to do around you, man, because like, we’ve always worked and now we’re soulmates and I don’t even know if you want this too-“

“Jesus Christ,” Colby groaned, and he surged up, putting both his hands on Brennen’s chest and pushing his friend back into the door frame so that Brennen was the one pinned to the wall. “Don’t you ever know when to shut up?” And Brennen seemed momentarily surprised by the change in position, but relaxed into it.

Brennen shrugged guiltily, “It’s why you like me.” And his words were confident even if his body language wasn’t.

And Colby smiled. “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

Brennen stared at him, down at Colby’s hand and then back up at him. “So… is that a yes?”

Colby paused, and he couldn’t help how his eyes moved to Brennen’s lips, the way his tongue darted out to lick his lips. “Brennen…”

“I’m not going to kiss you first,” Brennen said quietly, and Colby’s eyes were on him again. “That’s on you, man. We can just leave this where it is, and go to bed or-” But Colby never heard the other option. Because that was where he leaned in and kissed Brennen.

Brennen almost seemed shocked that Colby had actually done it, not reacting for the first half a second. Colby panicked a little bit, worried that Brennen had been joking the whole time except that then Brennen let a little growl escape his throat, and his hands curled around and into Colby’s hips, kissing him back.

And Colby’s omega wanted to melt into the kiss but he reminded himself that this wasn’t just his omega kissing his Alpha for the first time, this was Colby kissing Brennen for the first time. He’d never been super submissive before. Why start now? So he kissed Brennen harder, and he heard the chuckle from Brennen that dissolved into a groan, as Colby’s hands threaded into his hair and pulled him in.

Brennen’s hands fidgeted at his waist, and Colby figured he was controlling his urge to pull Colby into him, maybe avoiding reaching for places that he knew he wasn’t allowed to.

And that… Colby really appreciated that.

He broke the kiss first, drawing back and breathing far harder than he thought he would, given the circumstances. Brennen didn’t seem entirely unaffected either, looking at Colby with dark eyes. Something distinctly Alpha and omega pulsed in the air, intertwining and dancing together.

It was right. It was right and… perfect. Brennen was… fuck…

“You feel that shit?” Brennen asked quietly, not dropping his gaze and Colby nodded.

“Feels right,” Colby murmured, “You know?”

Brennen let out a breath. “Glad it’s not just me.” His thumbs had idly started massaging the inside of Colby’s hip, and Colby felt a shiver move up his spine.

“Not just you,” Colby confirmed, pressing into Brennen just a little bit, humoring the omega in him clamoring for contact. He heard Brennen’s chuckle, then an answering growl to a groan that escaped Colby’s throat when Brennen pressed just a little bit harder into his hip. “Brennen…”

“I’m gonna kiss you again, okay?” And it was still a question while being a statement, so Colby nodded, and then Brennen pushed back on his hips, pressing _him_ into the door frame again, swallowing his gasp with his lips.

The tentative energy from before had dissipated with this kiss. Colby smelled a pulse of Alpha scent as Brennen kissed him hard, taking back control as one hand lingered on his hip while the other climbed up to his shoulder. Colby had his hands on Brennen’s chest again, partially to brace against the rough handling, partially just to enjoy the sensation of the muscles of Brennen’s chest. Kissing Brennen was warm and good and sent both his heart and his omega fluttering in his chest.

He tensed as he felt Brennen’s hand start to creep up his neck, only to pause and return to the safe space of his shoulder. “Sorry…” Brennen muttered against his lips. Colby smiled, and let himself relax again, only to tighten with a completely different energy as Brennen pushed more into him so that Colby was pressed between Brennen’s body and the door frame.

Brennen’s body was hot and solid, the hard lines of his body pressing into Colby’s, and that sensation was hot and addicting. The scent of his Alpha surrounded him, and Colby wanted to just melt into Brennen, let the Alpha take control, let the Alpha press him into the wall and just _take_ … 

But they’d only just now kissed, and his dick was really started to get invested and even though his omega was calling for it Colby should probably pull back before they moved into something they wouldn’t be comfortable with in the morning.

_Fuck dammit..._

So he pushed back at Brennen’s chest, regretting the lack of contact almost immediately but accepting it. Brennen didn’t fight him on it, just drawing back and accepting his choice. The Alpha was grinning at him, a dopey grin, and shit, Colby wasn’t sure he had seen Brennen that honestly happy in a while. “Good?” He asked, just to double check.

“Good,” Brennen agreed, and his hand lifted to touch Colby’s cheek affectionately. Then he grinned. “Definitely not complaining about the view either…”

“Shut up,” Colby laughed, and pushed against Brennen’s chest.

“I mean it, dude, you’re hot,” Brennen said, grinning now, knowing it was making Colby uncomfortable and doing it despite that. “You’ve got nice hair and pretty eyes…”

“Brennen…”. Colby tried smacking his chest, but Brennen caught his hand, threading fingers through it to hold hands with Colby. Colby paused, feeling his breath acutely in his lungs as Brennen kissed the back of Colby’s hand, the teasing light never leaving his eyes but there was affection there too.

Colby rolled his eyes, but he leaned forward to kiss Brennen on the lips again, taking some of the sarcasm out of his grin.

Oh yeah, this kissing Brennen thing… he could get used to it… And he was just surveying Brennen, thinking about going in for a more heated make out session, when Brennen seemed to catch the direction of his eyes. Some of the joviality seemed to leave his eyes, and he spoke, “One thing, before we go any further.”

Colby pressed his eyebrows together, confused now. “Yeah?”

Brennen stroked his cheek, but as he continued his fingers moved downwards, skipping past Colby’s neck to trace across his chest, still holding his hand, “We do any more… we do it when we’re sober,” He said, “No alcohol, no hormones, no heat or rut or shit. Sober.”

And that was Brennen’s serious face. He didn’t see it very often, but that was definitely it. And Colby knew to listen when he saw it. “Okay,” He agreed. And it should have been obvious, but he asked anyway. “Why?”

Brennen huffed out a nervous sounding laugh, looking down. “Because uh… because no matter what,” He said, and his hands were on Colby’s hips again. “I don'... I don' wanna...” He swallowed, looking up to meet Colby's eyes. "I never want to like... rape you, or some shit."

"Brennen..." And Colby cringed at the word, because that felt a little harsh. Brennen doing… _that_ … wasn’t something he could even imagine. “Dude, you’re not going to…”

Brennen cut him off, briefly tightening his fingers on Colby's hips. “Colby, if I hadn’t been able to stop when you were in heat last week…” Brennen sighed heavily, stepping back from Colby and into his room. The energy between them shifted, moving from easy and happy to something a little more uneasy. Not because of them, but… because of the subject material. Colby followed him, closing the door behind him. Brennen took a few agitated steps further into his room and Colby’s eyes followed him with worry.

“Brennen…”

But Brennen shook himself. He took a deep breath and turned back to look at Colby. “Look, I just worry consent will get a little weird with the whole soulmate and hormones thing. I don’t want to do that to you.” He looked imploringly at Colby. “You know?”

And he did know, even if he wasn’t sure exactly why Brennen was so worried about it. “I know,” He nodded, looking down, then back up at Brennen. “I… thank you, Brennen. But uh…” He put a hand on Brennen’s shoulder. “You won’t, you know. Do that to me.” He squeezed his shoulder. “I trust you.”

Brennen gave him half a smile, looking away. “I’m sure gonna fuckin’ try,” Brennen gave the serious a few more moments, before apparently deciding that he was done with it, because he broke Colby’s grip on him and moved over to the couch. He flopped down on it with a dramatic _ooof_. “You got a blanket, dude? I’m about to pass out.”

Colby grinned at him. And there was normal Brennen. He appreciated seeing it even more knowing that beneath the idiot on the exterior, there was a good friend. “Yeah, sure,” Colby almost offered to share his bed, but decided that was probably somewhere in the too much too soon realm. So he just pulled a blanket off of the foot of his bed and tossed it at Brennen.

Brennen caught it and made a contented noise, situating the blanket and curling up under it. “Oh yeah, that’s the shit…”

Colby snorted, pulling off his shoes, clothes, and jewelry. If Brennen’s eyes stayed on his body a little longer than they might have previously, Colby didn’t comment on it. And then Brennen winked at him, and Colby knew that he knew he’d seen Brennen. “What?” Brennen asked with a grin, “You’re pretty.”

“Shut the fuck up, Brennen.” And Brennen laughed, and Colby threw a pillow at him. Brennen just snorted, curling up on his side with his phone in one hand.

And as he too curled up in bed he heard Brennen call sleepily from the couch, “Goodnight, dude.”

Colby smiled to himself. “Goodnight, dude.”

And together, Alpha and omega slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww, look at that. We got a happy end to a chapter. And now I get to write Colby and Brennen together, whoot! Almost drew it out more but uh... I just want to write them together and it works better for the general storyline I think.
> 
> 9 Chapters and 49000 words isn’t too early I think?
> 
> So this chapter originally had a very different ending, with Colby getting taken advantage of at the club but given what’s going to happen later... I’m okay with this chapter being more uplifting. Balances out more...
> 
> Super thank you to the reviewers sticking through me with this unpredictability in posting. I appreciate you and your words more than you know. 
> 
> Alright, as always, hope you guys enjoyed, let me know what you thought, and I’ll see you in the next one!


	10. Chapter 10

When Colby woke up, he didn’t remember everything that had happened the night before. He just laid in bed and took in his body, the warmth and softness of his bed, and how his stomach didn’t feel like it was trying to hurl itself from his mouth.

And then he heard someone stumble back into his room with a muttered, “Fuck…” And he remembered.

“Fuck,” He breathed, turning his head to look at the Alpha.

_The Alpha he’d kissed last night…_

Brennen had lost his shirt at some point during the night, and he had clearly meant to make it back from the bathroom without waking Colby. But he must have heard his breathless swear, because the Alpha froze. There seemed to almost be a moment where he braced himself before he turned to look at Colby. The look on Brennen’s face was wary, borderline panicked, but there was something in his eyes, something… something that made a certain part of Colby’s heart jump... 

And it wasn’t his omega.

“Hey…” Colby said unevenly, slightly afraid of spooking Brennen into bolting the way he was frozen.

“Hey…” And Brennen hadn’t broken his gaze, but his whole body was infused with a nervous tension that jump started Colby’s own heart. “You uh… you remember last night?”

Colby just nodded, hoping Brennen did. “You kissed me.”

Brennen’s lips gave a halfhearted attempt at a smirk. “You kissed me back.”

A brief huff of a laugh left Colby’s mouth. “Yeah,” He acknowledged.

There was another pregnant pause. Brennen’s eyes left Colby’s briefly, but Colby watched as it was not to look away, but to take in Colby’s chest, moving with each of his nervous breaths. “We uh… we good?” Brennen asked, and there was an uncharacteristic vulnerability in his voice. He still wasn’t looking at Colby’s face. “You don’t… like… you don’t like…”

“Don’t what?” And Colby sat up just a little bit higher, feeling the blanket slide down his abdomen, watching Brennen’s eyes flick there as well.

Brennen shrugged, maybe trying to take the tension out of the moment. It didn’t work. “Regret it,” He said honestly, quietly.

Colby blinked for a few moments, “Uh… yeah, no… no, I don’t… I don’t… I...” He repeated, watching as confusion and worry fell over his friend’s face. “I… uh…” He groaned, “Fuck, I am not awake enough for words…”

“You don’t have to say anything, and if you do like, regret it, I mean…” And Brennen had started talking, as he often did when nervous, just monologing his thoughts, “I mean, we were… we were drunk, and you uh… well, you’re kinda dealing with a lot right now and I probably… I probably shouldn’t have…” 

A bolt of worry struck Colby. “Do you regret it?” He asked, fearing the response. Because Brennen had initiated last night, Brennen had started the whole ‘I wanna kiss you’ thing and how drunk had Brennen been? Had that all just been alcohol talking?

“Fuck no,” Came Brennen’s instant and vehement response, “I… abso-fucking-lutely uh… the kissing was like… I mean, I liked that, that was good shit, and uh…” Brennen gestured with his hands, “Kissing you was like, good shit… and shit, and uh…”

Colby snorted in reaction to Brennen’s rambling. “Jesus fucking Christ…” He muttered, standing up and walking over to Brennen.

“And I would uh… totally like uh…” But Brennen’s nervous rambling continued as Colby walked into his space. Colby didn’t really listen to it though as he fisted a handful of hair and pulled Brennen’s mouth to his. Brennen melted into him with an almost groan, one hand coming up to cup his face, the other wrapping around his waist. And it was like last night, except that there was no fog of alcohol. Just him and Brennen, Alpha and Omega, a mated pair, and the feeling of his lips on Brennen’s and their hands on each other.

Brennen broke the kiss first, but didn’t go far, just pressing his forehead into Colby’s. Colby crinkled his nose and huffed a breath at the aftertaste in his mouth, “You taste like puke.”

“Probably because I just puked,” Brennen commented lightly.

“Gross,” Colby complained, but didn’t pull back. This closeness and proximity that he had with Brennen right now… it felt right, and he didn’t want to break it. “So we’re uh… we’re good. Right?” Colby asked, still feeling Brennan's breath against his.

“I mean…. I uh… you… you’re good, I’m good, I… ” He chuckled a little bit, “I might have freaked out a little bit this morning.”

Colby snorted. “Clearly.” He pecked Brennen again, finding that he liked the little smile Brennen got on his face after a kiss. “Look, man, way too much shit in my life is complicated right now. Let’s uh… let’s try to keep this simple, okay?”

Brennen gave another little chuckle, “Sounds good.” He drew back to look at Colby, the hand on his face dropping to his shoulder, “What does uh… what does that look like for you?”

Colby swallowed, grateful, but at the same time nervous that Brennen wanted him to call the shots. “We keep it slow?” He offered, “Just do what feels good?”

Brennen nodded in a considering way. “Sounds good.”

“We uh… we just kinda… feel it out?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Brennen nodded again, his thumb moving to stroke along Colby’s collarbone. “Of course.”

And it was stupid, and he knew that Brennen knew it, but he still felt like he had to say, “I’m not yours, or anything, okay? Just ‘cause… just ‘cause of my gender, like…”

Brennen nodded emphatically, “Of… fuck, of fucking course, dude, like…” He looked down at Colby’s chest, “We’re just… just doing what uh… feels good.” He looked back up at Colby, “Feels right.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Colby agreed, meeting Brennen’s eyes. “Yeah…” And he wanted to kiss Brennen again. So he did, and he felt the Alpha’s lips twist into a smile against his. He drew back to grin at Brennen.

Because this should feel weirder, feel stranger feel… anything but what it felt.

Because what it felt was right.

Brennen’s hand temporarily tightening on his shoulder and his hip, kissing him again quickly and drawing back. “Cool,” He grinned. And then Colby heard a twisted rumble from Brennen’s stomach. Brennen groaned, drawing back. “Okay, I’m gonna puke again. How the fuck are you not hung over?”

Colby shrugged, “Omega shit, I guess. One of the perks.”

“Asshole,” Brennen muttered, but he stumbled away from Colby to the bathroom. Colby laughed a little bit, his eyes following Brennen until the door closed.

By the time Brennen staggered back out from the bathroom Colby had found a pair of sweatpants and pulled them on. He’d left his shirt off though, not much liking shirts on a good day, and definitely didn’t miss the comb of his torso that Brennen did. Brennen didn’t seem abashed when Colby caught his gaze, just shrugging and saying, “What? You’re hot.”

Colby rolled his eyes, “Yeah, sure,” Brushing off the compliment.

Brennen squinted at him. “‘Cept you are,” He said firmly.

Colby shrugged, ignoring the incredulity in Brennen’s expression. “I guess…”

Brennen looked like he was considering fighting Colby on this, so Colby interjected, “Come on, man, you wanna get food?”

Brennen’s face lit up. “Yes,” He answered instantly, starting to cast his eyes around the room. “Where the fuck did I put my shirt…” 

“You can steal one of mine,” Colby offered easily, going to his closet and grabbing the first t-shirt off the rack. He tossed it at Brennen, not even really registering which it was.

Brennen, however, did. “Trying to claim me or something?” He commented, and when Colby looked at him in confusion, he pointed at the shirt. “It’s one of your merch shirts.”

“Oh…” And Colby felt some amount of heat in his cheeks. “I can get another shirt…”

“I didn’t say that,” Brennen said, pulling it on, and Colby felt some primitive part of his brain preen at his Alpha wearing something that was his.

 _Brennen wasn’t his Alpha,_ he reminded that part of his brain.

 _Not yet,_ that part of his brain reminded him.

He shuddered a little bit. He had control here dammit. Because maybe this was all getting accelerated by the hormone thing and the soulmate thing, but… but he liked Brennen. Genuinely liked him…

Right?

“Colby?” Brennen’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts, “What’s up, man?”

Colby jerked his eyes to Brennen, “Uh- nothing. I’m good, man.”

Brennen cocked an eyebrow at him. “Uh huh.”

Colby tried to force a smile. “No really, man, I’m good.”

Brennen crossed his arms, not looking impressed. “Spill,” He said firmly. Not in Alpha voice, but definitely in his cut-the-crap voice.

Colby sighed. “I just…” He pushed a hand through his hair. “Like… this all feels right, right?” Brennen nodded, “But like… I just worry that like… this is all our genders, dude, like… that all of this is happening.”

Brennen’s face pulled with a worried expression, “I’d thought about it…” He said honestly, “This morning, n’ shit.” He shifted closer to Colby, stepping into his personal space.

Colby shifted closer too, still feeling drawn to Brennen in some inexplicable way. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Brennen nodded, and his eyes were on Colby’s chest again. Colby could see his eyes tracing the contours of the muscles and shifted a little bit under the scrutiny. That was, until he saw the way Brennen’s tongue darted out to wet his lips.

He was just glad he was wearing pants with a little more support at this point as certain parts of his anatomy jumped with the mental image that evoked.

“So…” And Brennen was talking again, and Colby drew his eyes back up with some effort. “I was trying to decide, this morning if uh…” He shrugged, and his hand seemed to lift with his words, fingers coming to trace over the tattoo on Colby’s chest. Colby shivered a little bit, his chest sensitive. “If uh… if it mattered.”

“What do you mean?” Colby’s eyes moved back to Brennen’s fingers, lightly tracing, hands tanned and strong.

Brennen shrugged, “If it matters that like, this started because you presented.” His fingers traced idly off the tattoo and to Colby’s sternum. They traced downwards as Brennen continued, “Like, I know it’s a little bit weird, but like…” Colby hissed in a breath, slightly ticklish, as Brennen’s fingers brushed lightly over his stomach, “If it makes us happy, like…” He shrugged, “Does it like… matter if that’s how it started?”

And Brennen’s hand had flattened on his stomach, making Colby strangely conscious of his breath as he considered Brennen’s words. “I uh… I hadn’t thought about it…” He answered, and he hadn’t.

Brennen shrugged, “Just like…” And his eyes were on his hand, “Feels kinda stupid to question a good thing, you know?”

Colby pressed a hand against Brennen’s where it rested on his stomach. And then the strangest mental image flashed through his brain. He and Brennen, in the same position, but Colby’s stomach swelled with something living, something that kicked against both of their hands…

Colby inhaled quickly through his nose, barely restraining himself from jumping back. Instead, he pulled Brennen’s hand from his stomach, interlacing their fingers and holding him firmly. “That uh… that makes a lot of sense, I think.”

“So… you wanna like…” Brennen squeezed his hand back, lifting their hands slightly, “Like uh… we keep going? See where this goes?”

Colby squeezed back, still feeling a strange sensation in his gut, a recognition of what that sensation was, what that mental flash had been... meant… “Yeah…” He said faintly. “Yeah, I think uh… I think I’m okay with that.”

Brennen smiled then, a real, genuine smile, and nodded. “Cool,” He said, “I uh… that makes me happy.”

And something in Colby’s chest warned at that idea. He was… he made Brennen happy. And he thought… he was pretty sure it made _him_ happy too. “Cool,” He grinned back at Brennen, “I think this makes me happy too.”

“Good,” Brennen nodded. And that was when Colby’s stomach loudly announced that it was, in fact, time for feeding. Brennen snorted, “Oh yeah, we were gonna eat.”

Colby chuckled, “Oh yeah…” He used his grip on Brennen’s hand to pull him in for one more quick kiss, before grimacing at the aftertaste. “Bro, you gotta brush your fuckin’ teeth.”

“Fuck you, you kissed _me_.”

“And your mouth tastes like puke.” Brennen leaned in like he was going to try to kiss Colby again but Colby yelped, grinning and shoving him back. Brennen laughed, but let Colby retreat to the other side of the couch.

And then his expression sombered. “You uh…” Brennen started, “You uh… are we keeping this quiet or uh…”

Colby felt the smile drop from his face as well, considering Brennen’s question. Because well… did he want to? “I uh… I’m okay with the friend group knowing,” He said, “The only uh… the only reason I wouldn’t want to uh…” He shrugged, “You and Sam talked it out last night, right?”

Brennen nodded, “Yeah. Yeah, think so? I mean…” He looked down, and there was still wonder in his voice when he murmured, “He said he trusted me with you.”

Colby felt his eyebrows pull up, because from Sam about Colby… that was high praise indeed. “Shit…”

“I almost didn’t believe it when he said it,” Brennen said, “But uh… glad he did. Because this…” He gestured between him and Colby, “This is good. Really good, I think.”

Colby smiled faintly, “I think so too.” He squared his shoulders, “Alright, so… we don’t hide it. I… I’m really okay with that.” It felt like all he did was hide things these days. It would be nice to not have to. 

“Me too,” Brennen said, and there was affection in his face.

And then Colby’s stomach loudly reminded them of their previous plans. “Food?” Colby asked.

“Food,” Brennen agreed, and he went to walk out the door with Colby but Colby pointed a finger at him.

“Wash your mouth first, asshole.”

Brennen rolled his eyes, but redirected to the bathroom. “My toothbrush still in here?”

_Because Brennen crashed over enough that he needed a toothbrush..._

“Yeah, it’s the red one…”

OOO

Sam gasped in a ragged breath, feeling the trembling in his arms as he held himself up over Kat, not letting himself crash down on top of her yet. He heard her panting breaths, and then a mumbled, “What’re you doing, get down here…”

He laughed roughly, letting his arms relax and laying down as much to the side of his mate as the way they were tied together would let them. He heard a brief noise from her, but she snuggled back into him, the two of them curling up and spooning in the bed.

“God…” Sam breathed, pressing his nose into her shoulder and taking in her scent. It was always extra potent and sweet after they had sex. He nipped at the scent gland there, hearing a soft sound of pleasure from Kat. “Love you…” He breathed.

“Love you too…” She murmured, curling sleepily into him. There was something so satisfying about morning sex. It was lazy, but sweet, and one of Sam’s favorite ways to wake up.

It did mean, unfortunately, that they had to wait until his knot went down to do breakfast, but on the kinds of mornings where morning sex was an option, that wasn’t usually a concern.

They’d been snuggling for another lazy 5-10 minutes when Kat tried to disconnect them. They both hissed as the movement pulled on Sam’s knot, the swelling not having abated yet. Kat sighed, settling back against him before she twisted to look at him. “Gonna be a long one, huh?” She asked dryly.

Sam groaned, “Guess so.” Sometimes the knots lasted longer than others, generally based on how long it had been since Sam had gotten off, but occasionally his dick just had a mind of its own. “Sorry…” He kissed her shoulder, where a bite mark was still evident. “Means I get to cuddle you longer.”

“But I have waffles in the fridge,” Kat said mournfully, squeaking as Sam gripped a handful of her ass, “Babe!”

“I’ll make it up to you,” Sam promised, “Make an extra special waffle for you.” He soothed the spot he had just grabbed with a gentle rub.

“You’d better,” Kat retaliated. But there was no real bite in her voice. Just one of the realities their sex life faced. Alphas had knots after orgasm, and though it had taken a damn long time for Sam to be comfortable with it with Katrina, he felt like they were finally there.

Of course, it meant that he was comfortable enough with it that Kat could give him shit now.

But of course, they always had some of their most important conversations when they were stuck together after sex, and this time was no different. “So, what did you talk to Brennen about last night?” Kat asked. There was a little bit of trepidation in her voice, though Sam admitted it was well warranted, given their history.

They’d not gotten to talk about it last night. He’d been a little too busy trying to keep Kat from sucking his soul out through his dick. A favor he gleefully returned later with his own tongue and fingers.

“Uh… Just that I uh, trust him with Colby,” Sam said honestly, watching Kat lift her eyebrows at him.

“Wow,” She commented, “Never thought I’d hear that.”

Sam snorted, “Yeah, fuck knows I didn’t.”

Kat nodded, looking up at the ceiling as thoughts passed over her face. “What changed?”

Sam shrugged, trying to remember exactly what _had_ happened. Because Brennen was Colby’s friend, always had been - _even if he was another Alpha who could-_ but he’d never… but then they had just been so… Colby had seemed so happy last night. Because he knew Brennen made Colby happy and even if he still didn’t like the idea of them together-

-at all-

\- he still… he still trusted Brennen with Colby and his happiness. Which was a rare honor indeed.

“I think they’d be cute together,” Katrina commented, and Sam’s eyes moved to her.

“You do?” And that was a foreign concept in his mind, something he’d never taken the time to consider. Because… it was Brennen and Colby. He’d just… never really seen the two of them together in that way.

It made a primitive part of his Alpha growl possessively.

“Yeah,” Kat nodded. “Because like, Colby’s always like… like he’s the one who takes care of you.”

Sam felt something in his eyebrow twitch. “What?”

“Yeah,” Kat said, “Like when it’s you two, he’s the one who makes sure that you eat, and that you’re taking care of yourself, because you do it for all of us, but he does it for you.”

“I worry about him too,” Sam said defensively.

“I know you do,” Katrina said patiently, “But it’s different. I think it’s because you’ve known each other for so damn long that like… the Alpha thing doesn’t affect him. Or like, it does, but like…” She sighed, “He kinda acts like the Alpha in your relationship. Does that make sense?”

Sam groaned, “Feels like everyone is the god dang Alpha with me…” He commented dryly.

Kat giggled a little bit, “But you like it when I do it…” And as if to prove her point, she clenched down on him. Sam gasped, and then a broken noise was pulled from both of them as Sam’s knot had decided that it was going to have gone down enough to pull out. Sam pressed his eyes closed, groaning at the sensation.

_Fuck, he was always so god damn sensitive…_

When he opened his eyes, Kat was already cleaning herself with the towel they had at bedside, sitting up to help herself drain. Sam snorted and sent a teasing grin at her. “You don’t wanna keep it?”

Kat rolled her eyes, but didn’t dignify his comment with an answer. “But anyway,” She continued, sending him a pointed look, “When Colby’s with Brennen, Brennen takes care of Colby. It’s uh… I think it’s really good for him.”

“I can take care of him too,” Sam muttered, somewhat hurt for some reason.

Kat’s face softened. She leaned forward, cupping his face with her free hand. “I know you do,” She murmured, “And I know that means a lot to him. Whether he admits it or not. I think it’s just…” She shrugged, “A little different because of how long you guys have known each other. I mean, you weren’t…” She combed her fingers through his hair, “You weren’t exactly in a great place when you guys met.”

Sam sighed, leaning forward into her hand. “Yeah, I know…” Because while he’d never been too bad, he’d definitely been leaning destructive when he and Colby met. Colby had been one of the reasons he’d finally gotten out of that phase.

One of the reasons he’d never gone back.

“So like, I think that’s just your relationship, and this is his and Brennen’s relationship and he…” She was staring into space, “Brennen makes him happy. I just think them being together would be good. For both of them.”

Sam sighed, “I don’t… I don’t know how I feel about it,” He said honestly. “If they, like… end up trying shit…” He groaned, pressing his hands into his face, “My Alpha really doesn’t…”

_He’s mine..._

“He’s not yours,” Kat seemed to almost have read his mind. “And with where I think he’s at, you need to not give him any reason to start pushing you away.” And her gaze was firm.

Sam looked down at the sheets, worrying a section of the fabric between his fingers. Because she was right. Because Colby loved him, but Colby was his own man.

Colby was not his. Never was.

He looked back up at Kat. “I'll try to be supportive,” He promised in a low, sincere voice.

Kat nodded at him. “Good,” She said, and then she let a lighter grin come over her face. She leaned forward and pecked him on the lips. “Now come on, you owe me a waffle.” She hopped off the bed and Sam got a lovely view of her ass. She turned to glance back at him, caught the direction of his gaze, and wiggled her ass at him. 

He grinned dopily. “God, you’re hot.”

Kat giggled, but kept searching for clothes. Sam ran his hands through his hair, composing himself, glancing to see that his knot had mostly gone down. He was just glad he wasn’t too hung over this morning.

He hoped Colby was still doing okay…

And he hopped out of bed to join Kat in getting dressed.

OOO

“Yo, who wants bacon?” Brennen called, and Colby and Jake’s hands shot up.

“Yo, can Brennen come over every morning?” Jake asked, and he was already digging into the eggs on his plate, “Man can fucking cook.”

Brennen and Colby had come down to the kitchen to eat. Upon surveying the fridge and pantry, Brennen had promptly taken over the cooking, muttering something about “I wanna eat good, not just eat.”

Colby wasn’t complaining, it meant he got to sit down and have food cooked for him. And watching Brennen cook... there was definitely something warm and fuzzy in his gut at that sight.

Tara had taken one look at them when he walked down and grinning knowingly. “ _Good night?” She asked, holding out an arm to stop Colby while Brennen proceeded into the kitchen._

_“We didn’t do anything,” Colby defended quickly, not sure why he felt like he had to._

_Tara cocked an eyebrow at him. “It’s okay if you did, you know,” She said. “And you smell like him. Like, way too much like him for just being around him.” She tapped her nose, “I know this shit.”_

_Right. Tara would smell that. Colby snorted nervously, still feeling his face heat up. “I mean, I uh… we may have uh… kissed? A little bit?”_

_Tara was not impressed, “So you made out but you didn’t have sex.”_

_“Tara!” Colby admonished, looking around to see if anyone was in earshot but Tara waved him off._

_“Jake and I have a bet,” She chirped. “I won.” Her grin was teasing._

_“I… god dammit,” Colby groaned, pressing a hand into his forehead. “Okay, okay… who else is in on it?”_

_And her grin went full on mischievous. “Anyone who was there last night to see Brennen and you together.”_

_“Fucking…” Colby turned his head up to the ceiling, then looked back down at Tara. “I hate all of you.”_

_Tara smirked. “Hey, we’re just happy you’re happy.” She glanced at the kitchen, “I uh… I think your boyfriend took over the cooking.”_

_“He’s not my…” Colby started, but then paused. Well, wait… was Brennen his boyfriend?_

_Tara’s grin was knowing. “Uh huh,” She said, hopping back to the table._

_Colby stood there with his hand pressed to his face for a moment longer, before he heard Brennen call, “Hey babe, you want eggs?”_

_Colby laughed in disbelief. Well, there was all subtly out the door. From the kitchen, he heard Jake yell, “God dammit Tara!” Followed by Tara’s laughter. Colby let a grin fall onto his face._

_Well, that was one reveal down._

“Seriously Colby,” Jake swallowed his bite of food. “When I say you need to have sex with Brennen every night so I get to eat this shit in the morning, I mean it.”

Brennen burst out laughing while Colby groaned. “We didn’t have sex,” Colby felt the need to reiterate, despite the fact that he had to have said it at leave five times by now. “There was some kissing and that was it.”

Jake turned to Brennen, cocking an eyebrow at him. Brennen shrugged, just nodding. “Just kissing,” He confirmed, and the look he shot Colby was all affection. And then the teasing was back, “Course, that might change later but uh…”

“We’ll see about that,” Colby shot back, even as something in his chest jumped at the idea. His chest and his groin.

Because he would not be opposed to the idea of feeling Brennen’s body solidly against his again.

“You gotta give Jake some pointers,” Tara gestured at them with her spoon, munching on yogurt. “Those eggs were great.”

“Bacon’s delicious too,” Jake pointed out, not seeming at all offended by Tara’s comment.

“I don’t eat meat, babe, you know this…”

Brennen grinned at Colby. The Alpha had sat down next to him, bumping their knees reassuringly as they ate. He could feel something warm and comforting coming from Brennen, something that echoed all those feelings from earlier, that… feeling of rightness. Like everything was as it should be.

He wanted to kiss Brennen. And it occurred to him that he totally could, so he did so, leaning over and interrupting Brennen’s fork to his mouth. Brennen happily kissed him back, and there was that earnest, affectionate grin on his face when he met Colby’s eyes.

Shit… there really was something there wasn’t there?

“Uh…” And Colby froze, knowing that voice.

_Fuck…_

And he knew what he was going to see when he turned, but it still caused his stomach to harden with anxiety when he saw Sam and Kat standing in the entranceway to the kitchen.

OOO

“Uh…” Sam couldn’t even find a good way to express the emotions coiling in his chest, the possession and defensiveness that immediately kicked into high gear at the way Brennen was looking at Colby, touching him, _kissing him_ …

Kat’s hand was clenched in his, and he felt her tighten her grip. He figured it was a distraction tactic, and it reminded him to take a breath there, take a centering breath of his mate’s scent and get himself under control.

Because Colby was absolutely frozen, looking like a deer in the headlights and Brennen was looking between Colby and Sam, worry at Colby, and concern and some measure of… it was like he was almost challenging Sam to say something.

Sam had no idea what emotions his face was showing, just hoping he had schooled it enough that no one else could see the struggle going on in his gut.

_He wanted to rip Brennen away from Colby, hurt him, attack him for daring to come at Colby when Colby was his, his best friend, his omega…_

Kat squeezed his hand again, hard and almost painful this time. She was the first one to speak.

In typical Kat fashion, it was very frank and got right to the point. “So… you guys are dating now?”

Both Colby and Brennen nodded shakily, glancing at each other as if to check the other agreed. “Yeah,” Colby was the first one to speak. “Yeah, we are, I think.”

“You guys have my support,” Kat’s voice was honest. “I think you guys work.” But Sam wasn’t really paying attention to his girlfriend. Instead, he caught Tara’s gaze for a moment and was almost taken aback by the fire in her eyes. She too looked like she was daring him to say something, to not be okay with this.

And he wasn’t, his Alpha really, really wasn’t but…

Sam had to remember that he was in control here. And Colby was his best friend. And he needed to support his best friend.

So he forced a smile onto his face, “Hey, you guys do you.”

But Colby still looked at him with trepidation, clearly not believing him. “You’re okay with it?”

_No…_

Sam shrugged, “Hey, he makes you happy. I uh… I trust Brennen. So like… you guys go for it, okay?” And he had to remind himself that he really was okay with this, his more civilized side was okay with this.

It was just his Alpha he had to ignore.

And there was probably another conversation coming later, but with so many people, Colby seemed content to let the matter go for now. “Okay,” He said, and there was a careful smile on his face.

_Fuck, but if was really important to him that Sam be okay with this, wasn’t it?_

“So uh…” Brennen gestured at the stove, “There’s some eggs and bacon left, if you guys wanna eat. I think there’s enough…”

“Sounds good,” Katrina interjected, squeezing Sam’s hand again. “We’d love that. And babe,” She looked up at him, a teasing smile on her face, “You still owe me that waffle.” The look in her eyes reminded him that he needed to be okay with this, the conversation they had earlier.

So he plastered a goofy grin on his face, commenting, “Sure thing, babe.”

And Kat let go of his hand, and she moved to the stove while Sam moved to the fridge and he heard Tara start talking about some new Tik Tok trend to Kat. And he tried to quell the Alpha instincts in his chest.

He was happy for Colby, he was glad that Colby was happy.

Maybe if he told himself that enough… he’d start to believe it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a really hard time with the progression of this chapter, mostly because I have a scene end goal in mind, but I wasn’t sure how to get there until recently. Add that to absolutely chaos in my personal life (moving/grad school applications/other shenanigans) and you have another late chapter.
> 
> I think I got it figured out now though. So maybe we’ll try to stick with more every two weeks updates? With weekly if my brain cooperates? I got nothing... 
> 
> Let me know what you guys think about the Brolby progression. I’m having such a hard time with it because of all the factors weighing into it and trying to keep it realistic within the rules I’ve created in this universe. Would really appreciate some feedback here.
> 
> Alright, that’s all from me for now. Hopefully hear from you guys, hope you enjoyed, and I’ll see you in the next one!


	11. Chapter 11

Colby, as always, was a master of timing.

After the awkward and borderline confrontational encounter in the kitchen, Colby chose to not bring up the Brennen conversation until later in the day, when Brennen had gone home and they were practicing with the triggers. And that would have been fine, except for the timing thing. Because unfortunately, he also chose to bring it up just as Sam was reaching for his throat.

”So about Brennen...”

And it was so sudden that Sam didn’t even fully register the sentence for a few moments, long enough that he didn’t stop his hand before it closed around his friend’s neck. 

“Shit...” He muttered as all the tension went out of Colby’s body, and Sam had to brace a hand on Colby’s shoulder to steady his friend as the omega compulsion made him sag where he sat. Sam had learned to tighten his fingers more around Colby’s jaw so that he didn’t accidentally choke him when Colby unintentionally put his body weight into the grip.

And then he just stared at his hand, and by extension, at Colby, as he held the grip. “Fuck...” And he was supposed to let go fairly quickly, but he really needed a moment to regroup before they had this conversation.

“God dammit, Colby,” He muttered, eyes on the  _ -his- _ omega, held obedient in his grasp. “Fuckin’ warn a guy...”

But he needed to let go, because this was still Colby, and holding the grip right now was definitely taking advantage of it, which Sam had promised he’d never do. So he took a deep breath, releasing it between his lips, and steeled himself.

He could have a conversation with his best friend about his best friend’s boyfriend...

And then he let go.

For a moment, Colby didn’t react, just breathing shallow and even. And then his breath caught a little bit, and his eyes, which had fallen closed after the grip, squeezed tighter. A noise somewhere between annoyance and distress came out of him, and Sam felt him shiver in his grip.

And then Colby opened his eyes to look up at Sam.

”You could have just told me you didn’t wanna talk about it...” His voice was rough, as it always was after having one of his triggers pulled on him.

”You could have warned a guy before he was gonna grab your throat,” Sam commented, running a hand through his hair. Then he sighed, releasing his grip on Colby’s shoulder and saying quietly, “Sorry.”

”S’fine...” Colby shook his head, pressing his face into his hands. “I uh... fuck... hold on...”

Sam watched as Colby rubbed his face, gripping into his hair for a few moments, clearly regrouping. His chest still hurt, knowing that he was doing this to Colby, making him feel this out of control.

No matter what Colby was doing with Brennen. 

“Sorry,” Sam said again, and Colby waved him off, still not looking at him.

“‘S good, ‘s good...” He groaned, “Not uh, great timing for me either, I guess but...” He shrugged, “I probably should have warned you.” He shook his head again. “Fuck, why is this not getting easier...”

“It’s only been two weeks,” Sam reminded him, pulling a leg to his chest. “You’ll get better.”

”I just feel like I’m getting nowhere...” Colby gestured in irritation with his hands. “I can’t... like you fucking... and I can’t do anything...”

”It’ll get better,” Sam promised again, knocking shoulders with Colby affectionately. “Until then... you just tell me what you need.”

“Yeah...” Colby said faintly. He pressed his lips together, taking a deep breath through his nose, releasing it through his mouth. “So... Brennen?”

Sam felt an angry, possessive part of his chest snarl, but forced it down. “Yeah...” Sam said, “Thought you were... thought you were gonna take that slow.”

“I was, I was,” Colby acknowledged, and he leaned back, putting his weight into his hands. “I was but then...” He paused, his eyes moving. Sam waited for him, knowing it sometimes took Colby a moment to organize his thoughts. “So... you know how you were with Kat? Like when you first met her?”

Sam huffed a noise of amusement, grinning a little bit. “Yeah... I was a fuckin’ mess.” Until he met Katrina, Sam hadn’t believed in anything like true love or love at first sight.

But the instant he laid eyes on her, smelled her, saw her eyes look up at him for the first time... he suddenly got it.

”But like, I remember you telling me how right and how... good everything felt with her,” Colby continued, and Sam nodded, because yeah, he remembered those conversations, remembered how everything had felt when he first met Katrina. “And she’s your soulmate so…”

And then it connected. “You feel like that about Brennen?” He asked, his Alpha tensing up in his chest.

Colby took another breath, letting it out as he slowly nodded. “I uh... I think so, maybe?” He shrugged lightly, “I dunno, man, its like... Everything just kinda fell into place, you know?”

Sam stared down at his hand, now resting in his lap and fidgeting anxiously. “I guess...” Fuck... because he remembered how he’d been with Kat, and if Colby was feeling any of that towards Brennen... “What changed? ‘Cause like, you guys have known each other for years but what...” Because there was only one thing that Sam could have thought of that would have changed and that thing... he wasn’t sure how he felt about it being the change.

Colby let out a sarcastic little laugh, “You know what changed, man.”

”The gender thing?”

”The gender thing,” Colby agreed. “And I don’t... I don’t know how I feel about that because like...” He leaned forward again, putting his own hands in his lap to mirror Sam. “I don’t, like... like that it changed things and I know that kinda freaks Brennen out too but like...” He put his grin in his hands. “When... when I think about us together... we work, you know? Like it feels...” He shifted a little, “It feels right. He makes...” He chuckled a little, “It sounds corny as fuck, bro, but like... it makes me happy.” He looked up at Sam as if to gauge his reaction.

And Sam didn’t know what to do with his face. Because he should be happy for Colby, should point out that he was happy, and that sometimes things didn’t make sense and that it made him happy so why should he be questioning it... but then there was the whole gender thing. And the presenting thing. And the Sam’s Alpha thing.

And that sure complicated shit.

”Is it because you think we shouldn’t date?” Colby asked.

”I... no, no, he uh... I can tell he makes you happy,” Sam said honestly, and he could, he really could.

”Did he do something to piss you off?”

Sam snorted, “No, not this time.”

Colby chuckled a little bit, but then his demeanor changed. When Colby spoke next, he met Sam’s eyes and didn’t drop his gaze. “Is it the Alpha thing? Is that why you’ve been so weird about Brennen? Some weird Alpha possession thing?”

Sam barked a shocked laugh. Fuck, leave it to Colby to hit the fucking nail on the head. “Fuck, dude...” He flipped his hair out of his eyes. “You uh... fuck... I don’t know. Maybe?”

Colby huffed a noise of amusement wrapped in irritation. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Sam, please don’t bullshit me right now. I’ve got too much else going on.”

Sam groaned, because well, Colby wasn’t wrong. “Dude, I...” He had to look away. “Look, I don’t... I think you figured out that I don’t like it, right?”

Colby nodded, “You smell like Alpha, like a lot more, whenever he’s around or I bring him up. And uh...” He shrugged, “Well it’s not hard to miss that you’ve been weirder with him lately.” There was a tone of vague accusation in his voice.

Sam grimaced. “Sorry…”

Colby sighed, “Look, man, I just… I just worry, cause like…” He looked down at his hands, “I just feel like I’ve presented and that just… fucking everything is changing and there is nothing that I can do to stop it.” And there was just honest distress and frustration in his voice. “My body is doing shit I can’t control and you’re acting fucking weird…”

“Sorry…”

“And I just…” Colby threw up his hands, “Brennen is changing too, and it was weird but I think it’s good so it’s the first good change that’s come out of any of this and I just…” He stared out in front of him, just looking so lost, “I can’t not have you on my side right now, man. I can’t... I can’t handle that...”

”Colby...” And Sam wrapped his arms around Colby, feeling Colby shudder out a little broken laugh against him. “Fuck, dude... You can count on me, 100%. Fuck, I told you this didn’t change anything.” Because it didn’t. Because none of this was about Colby presenting, not really.

”But it has,” Colby whispered, and Sam felt something cold stab him in the chest. “But it has and I can’t fucking handle that right now Sam. I need you to get your shit together and control your fucking Alpha side because I can’t fucking do this without you.”

”Colby...” And suddenly there were tears springing to his eyes because that was not what he wanted, never what he’d wanted with all of this. “Colby, dude... I’m so fucking sorry...”

”Then fix it,” Colby said, and there was more emotion and desperation than Sam had heard in his voice in a long time. “Fucking fix it, please...” And his voice broke a little bit on the word, and Sam shuddered, gripping Colby closer and tighter.

”I’m gonna try,” Sam promised lowly, stroking Colby’s back. “I’m gonna fucking try.” Because it fucking broke his heart that Colby didn’t feel like he could count on Sam right now. But given everything that had happened... it didn’t surprise him.

”Fuck, man...” Colby breathed, “Just... fuck...” 

And they didn’t separate for a long time...

OOO

“How’d it go with Sam earlier?” Colby and Brennen were both curled up in the movie room. Brennen had let Colby sit down, before almost nonchalantly lying back on the sofa so that his head was pillowed by Colby’s thigh. He hadn’t commented on it beyond that, and Colby didn’t feel awkward when one of his hands made its way to rest on Brennen’s chest, while the other combed through his curls.

And the happy little noise Brennen made when he did it didn’t hurt either.

Colby shrugged, getting back to Brennen’s question. “It could have gone worse,” He said, pressing his lips together as he thought. “He uh… he promised to try to be better about the Alpha stuff. He’s just… worried, I guess.”

He heard a snort from Brennen, but he didn’t comment on that. “I uh, I told him I needed him to like, get over his Alpha. I think I got through to him…” He’d only basically cried.

Brennen shrugged, but he moved his hand to touch Colby’s where it rested over his chest. “Do  _ you _ feel better?” He asked, looking up into Colby’s eyes.

Colby paused, considered, and nodded, slowly. “I think so,” He said. Because it seemed like if nothing else, he’d seemed to have scared Sam a little bit, with the way Sam had gotten all emotional.

He hated it when Sam cried, his friend always a little more outwardly emotional than Colby. But if that was what it took to get it through to Sam that he fucking  _ needed _ him to get over his shit… then so be it.

And Brennen nodded smartly. “Then good,” He said. “That’s the important shit.”

Colby nodded back, smiling a little bit now. “Yeah, yeah it is,” He agreed.

Brennen had gone home briefly after the whole kitchen scene earlier. To change and to give Colby and Sam time to actually talk out what they needed to. Colby hadn’t realized how antsy he had been, how anxious he was to get his Alpha back in his line of sight until Brennen had come back later that evening and Colby felt an almost palpable weight lift from his shoulders.

Not his Alpha. Brennen. His friend who also happened to be an Alpha.

And his soulmate.

Apparently.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” Brennen’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. Brennen had lifted his unoccupied hand to brush his fingertips over Colby’s face. Colby let out the breath he didn’t know he had been holding.

“You,” He answered truthfully, watching the look of mild concern that slipped over Brennen’s features.

“What about?” Brennen prodded further.

Colby shrugged, “Just… how much changed so quickly. But I’m not complaining,” He smiled down at Brennen.

Brennen mirrored it, still tracing his face. There was a pensive look on his face, and Colby found himself frowning. “What’s up with you?”

And Brennen paused, looking a little abashed, but Colby nodded at him and he spoke, seeming reluctant. “I just…” He pressed his lips together, clearly thinking. Brennen’s fingers were still on his face, and Colby tensed a little bit as they drifted closer to his jawline, towards his neck.

“What are you doing?” He asked, trying to keep the apprehension out of his voice. Because so far the only person he trusted around his neck since presenting was Sam. And that… that was such a controlled situation and Brennen being that close…

He thought it was understandable that he was a little on edge about it.

“How sensitive are the triggers?” Brennen asked, his eyes transfixed on his fingertips. “Like… how likely am I to trigger something just by touching you wrong?”

“Uh…” Colby swallowed, his throat feeling a little tight given the position of Brennen’s hand. “I’m not sure? When Sam and I practice he usually just goes for the whole like… just grabbing thing.”

Brennen frowned, but seemed to notice Colby’s discomfort, retracting his fingers. Colby tried not to make the sigh of relief he released too obvious. And then Brennen was grabbing his hand, pressing it to his own throat. “Show me,” Brennen said, and Colby felt the vibration of Brennen’s voice under his palm. “Show me what not to do on you.”

Colby paused for a moment, a little confused and a little… concerned. “Why?”

Brennen shrugged. “I wanna know,” He said simply. He squeezed Colby's hand where he still gripped it. “Show me.”

“I… okay…” Colby chewed on the inside of his lips for a moment, trying to think back to exactly what it was that Sam did to bring out that omega reaction in him. He usually lost any sense of coherency or awareness after the grip, so he had to think a little harder than expected. But it wasn’t too difficult for his mind to summon up the sensation, arranging his fingers to close around Brennen’s neck, thumb and fingers gripping into the tendons on either side of his neck, applying light, downward pressure.

He felt Brennen swallow against his palm, and all of the sudden Colby felt the power of the position they were in. Because this wouldn’t trigger Brennen the same way it would him, but… it was still very much a charged position. Brennen’s eyes were still on him, a certain subdued fire in his eyes. “This is it?” Brennen asked softly, his voice raspier than normal.

“Yeah…” And to Colby’s surprise his voice mirrored Brennen’s.

Brennen swallowed again, before asking, “What about the hair pulling?”

And Colby’s other hand was still resting near Brennen’s scalp, so it wasn’t a large movement to slide his hand under Brennen’s head, gripping into the hair at the nap of his neck. He got a shaky exhale from Brennen, his friend’s eyes all of the sudden so intense on his. He was subconsciously aware of Brennen’s hands, one resting lightly over Colby’s at his throat, one seemed to be creeping up to his face.

He reacted before he thought. He released his grip at the back of Brennen’s skull, that hand now free to grip tightly around Brennen’s wrist and press it deliberately into the couch above him. They both seemed mildly surprised at the change in position. Colby felt the tendons of Brennen’s wrist shift in his grip, and once again, found Brennen’s eyes, glowing with green fire, looking at a him.

His breathing was shallow, quick. Colby felt his throat work under his hand. Brennen cleared his throat, looking away for half a second before looking back. “Those’re… that’s what your triggers are?” He asked, and there was a definite rasp to his voice.

Colby nodded shallowly, realizing for the first time what inherently power shifting positions they were, even without the whole omega thing. But then recalled one more. “If you don’t count the biting I guess.” 

His voice was meant to be teasing, but Brennen’s face changed just a little bit. Brennen blinked, and some sort of decision passed over his face, before he was tilting his head as much as Colby’s grip on his throat would allow him, offering the skin of his throat.

Colb felt his mouth dry out, “Brennen…”

“Don’t uh, like claim me, obviously,” Brennen said, chuckling in a nervous sort of way. “But uh… I think I owe you this.”

Colby snorted, “Yeah, you kinda bit me the other day.” He didn’t need to mention the part where the bite sent him to his knees, out of his mind and unable to react.

Brennen gave him a crooked sort of half smile, cocking an eyebrow. “Then come and get me back,” He threatened playfully.

And that was an offer that Colby couldn’t refuse. With a laugh that came out as half a growl, Colby leaned down, realizing that if he tilted Brennen’s head just so he could get his mouth close enough to his neck to press his lips against it. Brennen’s skin was warm and slightly salty when he opened his mouth to taste him in some strange internal desire, and Brennen seemed to shudder against him. “Good?” Colby checked in.

“Yes…” And the growling hiss that left his throat seemed to surprise both of them, but Colby certainly wasn’t going to be deterred by it. He pressed his mouth to Brennen’s neck again, moving his lips to run his teeth over the tendon in his neck.

Brennen’s groan seemed to surprise both of them. Colby paused, looking at Brennen’s face.

Brennen’s eyes had fallen closed, but with Colby’s continued pause, he opened them again. He stared at Colby. “Why’d you stop?” He asked teasingly, but with a certain breathless quality to his voice.

“Fuck,” Colby growled, and he’d had enough of the limited mobility this position gave him. He dropped his grip on Brennen’s wrist, using his leverage at Brennen’s jaw to pull the Alpha up to his lips.

Brennen groaned back against him, definitely getting with the program and sitting up so that he could meet Colby’s lips with ease. His newly free arm came up to loop around the back of Colby’s neck while Colby wrapped his free arm around Brennen’s back.

And no matter how unsure Sam seemed about this whole soulmate thing, Colby couldn’t deny that a certain part of his soul lit up every time he kissed Brennen, every time he heard a growl or a groan muffled against his lips, felt the way Brennen’s hands tightened against his shoulder and the hand still around his throat.

Brennen growled something low in his throat, and then he was moving, throwing a leg over Colby’s lap to straddle him on the sofa. Colby broke the kiss to cast him a look for a moment. “Okay?” Brennen asked.

“Okay,” Colby agreed, and Brennen slid back into the kiss with a happy groan.

However, due to their new positions, it became increasingly obvious that both of them were… interested… in something more. Colby knew blood was rushing south, could feel his cock hardening in his pants and then also… something wet. And just like the smell of Alpha was starting to roll off of Brennen in waves, he could also smell the scent of aroused omega and slick… all coming from him.

He was aroused, and his newly omega body was just reacting to that.

He didn’t know why it made his chest tighten with a certain amount of panic.

“You good?” And that was Brennen’s voice and Colby realized that he’d frozen, stopped the easy shifting and kissing rhythm they’d had. And Colby looked up at Brennen, poised over his lap, cock half hard against his abdomen, all of the sudden worried about his fucking body and the pulsing wetness and empty ache he was starting to feel in his gut.

His omega wanted Brennen. His omega wanted Brennen  _ inside… _

“Colby?” That was Brennen’s voice again, and there were hands on his cheeks, directing Colby’s face to look at Brennen. Colby was almost reluctant to look up, stupidly ashamed of the physiological reaction that he had no control over, he knew that but fuck, it just reminded him how much his body didn’t feel like his right now.

“Colby, babe,” And it was the pet name that finally got through the panic in his chest. Colby finally managed to make his eyes meet Brennen’s. There was nothing but concern in the the Alpha’s eyes. “Bro… what’s up?”

Colby rolled his eyes. “It’s stupid…” Because it was, it really, really was…

“Colby, talk to me, please?”

And Brennen just looked so earnest that Colby couldn’t lie to him, feeling his face flame with heat even as he tried to explain.

“I’m… fucking wet.”

Brennen furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

“My… fuck, my fucking body is…” He moved his hands in irritation. “I’m into you. It feels so, so good, and I want you, but my body…” He groaned, pressing his face into his hands.

Brennen still looked a little confused, “I mean, I know,” He commented, “I can smell it.” The smile was probably meant to be teasing, but given where Colby was at it was just mildly infuriating. 

“That’s the problem,” Colby said, gesturing again. Because it somehow made it worse that Brennen already knew, could  _ smell _ him… “That’s the problem. It’s that my body is doing  _ that _ and it doesn’t feel like my body. Like that I want you to…” He made a distressed noise, “And I… I just feel so fucking wrong. Like this isn’t… like I know I’m an omega now but…” He groaned, pressing his hands into his face. “Fuck, I’m sorry, I’m a fucking mess…”

“Nah, man,” And light fingers were pushing his hands away from his face so that Brennen could get to him, pressing a light, comforting kiss to his lips. “Hey, we don’t have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, ‘Kay?”

“Brennen…”. Because Brennen didn’t get it, didn’t understand why he was freaking out. Because it wasn’t just that his body was doing shit that was out of his control but it was the societal expectation that he would just be okay with it, that he should want Brennen to put something inside of him...

“I mean it… you don’t want me inside you, that’s totally fucking okay…” Colby shuddered at even the idea of letting anyone anywhere near… there.

“I’m sorry,” And he should be okay with this, should fucking want this but the very idea sent panic through his chest, “I’m sorry, but I can’t…”

“Hey, Colby, man, please, listen to me,” Brennen redirected his gaze, because he’d tried to look away. “I don’t… like I mean, I uh… I want you. I think that much is pretty obvious,” Colby glanced down at Brennen’s groin, where his half hard cock was still proudly tenting his sweatpants. “But I don’t… like I’m not going to fucking ask you to do anything that’s not okay, okay?” He shuddered, “I told you that last night. I’m not…  _ I’m _ not okay with that. I may be the Alpha but…” He shrugged, “Doing… that... doesn’t really matter to me, okay?”

Colby shook his head, “But I’m an omega, I’m supposed to be turned on by this not… fucking a mess over the idea.”

“I mean, you still just presented man, we uh… we’ve got lots of time, okay?” Brennen’s hands were on his face, thumbs stroking his cheekbones. “I’m not… I don’t wanna push you for anything, okay? Never gonna do that.” His eyes were earnest, that fire smoldering like low, still glowing embers. “Even if you’re never okay with it, that’s still fine.”

“But…”

“Colby…” Brennen cut off his protest. “Look, if I’m really that desperate to stick my dick in something there are toys for that.”

Colby snorted, surprising himself through the anxiety. “I just… I don’t wanna…” He paused a moment, taking a few deep breaths. Feeling a little recentered, he continued quietly, “I just feel like I don’t even recognize my body anymore…” He shook his head, “I’m sorry, we were, we were good, and then I just, I fucked it up…”

“Hey man, you didn’t fuck anything up,” Brennen promised, “If you want, we can keep kissing, or we can just stop and watch a movie or some shit. Seriously, whatever makes you happy.”

Colby swallowed, gathering himself. More kissing meant more arousal meant more slick, and more of that gnawing, insidious feeling in his gut. But it also meant getting to listen to Brennen’s noises, feeling the Alpha shift against him and above him, sounds that he was quickly desiring to hear more of.

And he wanted… he wanted to feel more of that.

“Okay, okay…” Colby took a breath, centering himself. He could do this. “Lay down,” He instructed Brennen, his voice quiet.

Brennen still seemed a little apprehensive, but he shifted off of Colby to lay back down on the couch. Colby shifted off of his ass, ignoring the way his sweatpants stuck to him just a little bit, as he repositioned himself to support his weight over Brennen. Brennen stared up at him, half a grin back on his face, waiting to see what he would do.

“I’m gonna kiss you, okay?” Colby asked, getting an immediately enthusiastic nod from Brennen. “Don’t uh… don’t touch my ass, okay?”

Brennen threw him a thumbs up, looking goofy in a way that Colby couldn’t stop the laugh that pressed from his lips. And this… this was Brennen, his friend. His Alpha-

No. Not yet. Maybe never. But either way, this was okay and he wanted this right now.

He wanted Brennen.

And he pressed himself back down to kiss Brennen.

He heard the twin inhales that got sucked into both of their lungs at the kiss, and fuck, he just wanted to bask in the warmth and goodness that kissing Brennen brought to his chest. Brennen wrapped an arm around his lower back, one at his upper back, pulling Colby down tighter and Colby gasped, because apparently the burst of existential panic hadn’t done much to his boner.

Because it felt so fucking good to have Brennen’s hot, solid weight against him. And Colby was the one to set of the slow grinding motion in their pelvises. Brennen’s surprised gasp of pleasure was more than incentive enough to not stop. “Colby?”

“I’m good,” Colby groaned back to him, and Brennen’s hands had found their way under his shirt and he sure as shit was not going to complain about the way Brennen’s fingers were digging into the skin of his back. He dug his hands through Brennen’s hair, feeling and hearing the moan Brennen let out against his lips.

“Can I…” Brennen tugged at his shirt and Colby quickly broke the kiss to rip it off, sitting up and using both his hands to pull at Brennen’s shirt.

“You too…”

And Brennen shucked out of his shirt before he wrapped a hand around the back of Colby’s neck, pulling him down. Colby was pleasantly surprised when he didn’t seem at all affected by the grip, just in the way that he was able to press tighter against Brennen and kiss him again.

“You feel so good,” Brennen murmured against his lips. “God, love feeling you…”. Brennen’s hand tightened on top of his lower back, pulling Colby into him tighter. Colby groaned at the increased pressure to his groin, feeding a hand against Brennen’s face to cradle his face.

Colby broke the kiss, mouthing down Brennen’s neck while Brennen arched his back and bared his throat for him. Colby knew what Brennen was doing, letting Colby have control of the kiss and the encounter but he didn’t call him on it. He just appreciated it.

And he certainly wasn’t going to complain about the noise Brennen let out when Colby’s teeth nipped into his neck again right over a scent gland.

Colby wasn’t sure what he thought that rubbing his dick against another dude’s would feel like, but he was sure it wasn’t this. It took a little bit of doing, and Brennen’s hands on his hips, but eventually he and Brennen we able to find an angle that allowed both of them a glorious mix of pressure and friction.

It was good. It was better than good, and Colby just ignored the part of his body that ached for Brennen to slip fingers inside of him, fill up some of that new aching void. This was good, this friction and pressure on his cock, this was all he needed. This was all he needed for -oh!

Some sort of high pitched noise came out of his nose as Brennen’s fingers, which had been absently tracking over his chest, brushed over a nipple. “Shit…” He gasped, his abs tightening at the sensation that arched down his spine and into his cock. “Fuck…”

Brennen’s hands were off of him almost instantly. “Fuck, you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Colby muttered, “Fucking… sensitive, I guess… fuck, that’s new.”

Brennen looked up at him. “Bad?”

Colby frowned, pressing his eyebrows together. “Do it again?” He asked, shifting over Brennen. Brennen watched his face carefully, and he lifted his fingers and brushed them once again over the sensitive skin.

“Oh…” Colby’s breath sucked into his lungs and his whole body seemed to arch, his abs tightening and his hips arching up while his chest bent down to press closer to Brennen. “Oh fuck…”. And the touch was deliberate, longer, and Colby’s whole body surging with some sort of wave of hormones almost as potent as the wave that came with his omega triggers. But this one, this one he could still get over, still keep his head and his sanity.

“Colby?” And the hormones were still crashing through him, rushing through his veins but Colby was able to open his eyes and look at Brennen. He heard Brennen’s quick inhale once he caught a look at Coby’s eyes. “Bro, your pupils are like… huge…”

“Do it again…” Colby breathed, “I can… do it again.”

And Brennen seemed a little bit confused, but he did as Colby directed him. He was ready this time, able to get on top of the wave of hormones so that he could just ride it, pressing down against Brennen and gasping out a broken noise. “Bren…”

“Fuck…” He heard the admiring tone in Brennen’s voice, but he’d lost most of his awareness of what was going on, just mostly in his head. His whole body contorted as Brennen brushed over his chest again, starting a repetitive motion that sent consistent little bursts of endorphins through his abdomen twisting up into his throat. And there was something broken in his voice, something desperate and whining.

“God, you’re hot…” Brennen whispered, and a hand tightened on Colby’s hip, pulling him down harder into Brennen and Colby had lost control of this particular encounter but he was pretty sure he was okay with it.

And the stroking sensation with its grinding heat and pressure was starting to eat its way up his spine, filling him up with a vibrating, intoxicating kind of energy.

“Fuck, please…” And he was trying to stay on top of the sensations, feeling like he actually might have been able to, and he would have been able to, probably, if he hadn’t felt the way Brennen’s cock throbbed against his, if Brennen had not gripped possessive fingers into his hips. Because all of those sensations, with the noises he knew were spilling from him without his say, were clearly having an effect on Brennen. Brennen was gripping his hips tightly and grinding Colby down into him and that just amped everything up a level just above where he could control them.

He could feel the agitated energy that Brennen gripped into him with, the rasping gasps and groans his breath was coming in. And he probably should have said something at that moment but then Brennen lifted his mouth to Colby’s collarbone, not biting, but mouthing around the sensitive skin. And that didn’t trigger anything, but Brennen’s mouth so close to such erogenous areas…  _ fuck, _ that was intense.

Colby gasped, shuddering on top of Brennen as - _ his Alpha- _ broke the contact at his collarbone and mouth up his neck to his ear. And that combination of sensations, all of the new of his sensitive nipples, rolled up with Brennen wrapped around him in so many ways, all enhanced by the scent of his fucking Alpha, now growling in his ear…

“God, you’re so fucking pretty like this…”

And maybe it was the voice, maybe it was the words, but something washed over him, taking that last little bit of lucidity from his mind. All he could focus on was the scent and feeling of the body beneath him, the Alpha touching him and making him feel good, completely out of control of the hormones at that point. And something in his abdomen still felt empty and needy, but it wasn’t a large enough part to keep him from getting off, because that was when he realized that was exactly what was happening.

He was going to cum.

“God-” The words never really made it to proper form though, because Colby’s whole body locked up as the orgasm ripped through him. He had no idea what he was doing with his hands, his body, nothing, just that the hormones fucking intensified all over his body as the scent of Alpha  _ -his Alpha _ \- filled his lungs and his body. “Fuck, Alpha…”. Those were the broken words that came from his mouth.

And there was a slightly sour tang to the scent for a moment, which confused Colby, but he didn’t worry about it too much. Because arms were wrapping around him, pulling him against something sturdy and warm and good, and Colby snuggled in contentedly.

“Alpha…”

His body still felt massively floaty, out of his control, so the warmth and solidness of whatever (or whoever) was holding him, felt amazing. He could hear a voice faintly in his ear, but it wasn’t important, not getting through the the current of hormones slowly dissipating from his body.

Slowly, slowly…

And then finally, he recognized Brennen’s voice.

“Colby?”

Not just Alpha. Brennen. His friend. His soulmate, his…

And then reality started to trickle in as Colby’s brain came back online enough to realize what was going on.

And what had happened.

“Brennen?” Oh fuck, was that his voice? He sounded wrecked. He blinked through vision gone blurry until Brennen solidified in front of him, under him, looking worriedly at him.

“You with me, brother?” Brennen asked. Colby nodded, shakily, taking stock of his body and… 

His sweatpants felt wet. His boxer briefs were sticky with what felt like a mixture of slick and cum and he was gonna try not to think too hard about that because that… what the fuck had that even been…? “Brennen…” He whispered, not sure he trusted his body for much more. “What the fuck was that?”

Brennen just shook his head. “You like… you just spaced the fuck out…” He breathed. “I… fuck, I realized about halfway through you were just…” He was tracing Colby’s face with his eyes. “What the hell was going on in your head?” He finally landed on.

Colby just stared at him. “I don’t know…” He looked at his hands, still faintly trembling from the onslaught of hormones. “I lost control,” He said quietly, “I completely… completely lost control.” And his whole body reacted in a shudder of horror.

Brennen pulled him into his chest. “I’m so fucking sorry…”

But Colby shook his head. “Not your fault…” And his underwear was starting to dry down, stiff and uncomfortable, but Colby didn’t want to move yet. Because if he moved he’d lose the rock of grounding that Brennen was giving him under his chest, spiral into the panic that was twisting in his chest. “Not your fault.”

“We’ll take it slower next time,” Brennen asked, and there was so much worry in his eyes. Colby felt like screaming, but it was all internal. Externally, he just didn’t react.

He felt like Brennen might be able to hear it though.

“Yeah, yeah… that would uh… be good, I think…”

He’d completely lost control. Just another thing in his life he had no say in.

“Much slower…” Brennen promised, pulling Colby into his chest. Colby let him, still processing everything that had just happened.

Fuck…

He was completely losing control...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys like angst right? And this is only the start of it!
> 
> I’ve been writing a lot so early again! We get to play with some dysphoria this chapter. I don’t have any personal experience with that, so lemme know if I’m doing it wrong.
> 
> Please let me know what you guys are thinking about the Brolby relationship. It’s a slightly different take than I’ve done in the past, but I think it’s working.
> 
> And as always, I’ll see you in the next one!


	12. Chapter 12

The thing with Brennen, of course, almost triggered another meltdown.

“Why the fuck can’t I fight it?” Colby was pacing, his hands making agitated little movements at his sides.

Tara was curled into his sofa, watching him pace. “It’ll get better,” She promised evenly. Her phone was in her lap, but she wasn’t looking at it, just watching him with worry in her eyes.

“But I can’t… I need it to…” Colby gestured angrily. He’d asked Tara to come over the next day in the wake of the disastrous sex encounter with Brennen. “I need to learn how to do it now. Tara, I don’t…” He growled, frustration burning hot in his chest. “I don’t have a year to learn how to do it. I can’t. The fans are going find out at some point and I really can’t wait to tell them much longer. They’re gonna… fuck!” He let out a noise of frustration.

Tara shifted to sit on her knees. “Then don’t wait,” She offered, “Just tell them and be done with it.”

And that was just Tara, wasn’t it. Offering the simplest solution to his problems. “It’s not that easy…” Colby muttered back, “Tara, you know… you know how my fans are.” She nodded, grimacing a little. The weird shit that had come out of Sam presenting… God, the edits had been bad. “And besides,” He turned and paced the other direction. “I can’t tell them before I tell the team or my parents.”

Tara raised an eyebrow at him. “You haven’t told the team or your parents?” There was genuine surprise in her voice.

Colby sighed, pausing in his pacing. “The team, I…” Because it hadn’t even been two weeks since he’d come out of heat and he hadn’t really wanted to deal with how the heads of their PR team would handle this. “John and Ashley… I mean, Ashley’s a beta and I don’t think it’ll be a problem but… you know John’s an Alpha, right?” Tara nodded. “He and Sam have always kinda been after each other because of me and Sam’s dynamic with Sam being the Alpha and now that I’ve presented…” He shrugged.

Tara snorted, “No way they’d drop you. They’re making way too much money off of you now. Like, with the book deal and don’t you guys have a movie in the works?”

Colby sent her a surprised look, “How’d you…?”

“Jake tells me everything,” Tara waved it off. “But like, what do you mean about you and Sam’s dynamic?”

Colby groaned. “John uh… John thinks the way that Sam and I act around each other…” He crossed his arms. “He’s one of those toxic Alpha types, I think? Where he thinks that every other designation should like, defer to Alphas?”

Tara’s brow scrunched, “How did a guy like that get in that kinda position with you two?”

Colby rolled his eyes, “Because he’s figured out how to be subtle about it. I honestly hadn’t noticed until Sam pointed it out. You know how he is about Alpha stereotypes.” Tara nodded.

“So, because Sam doesn’t make all of your decisions, he doesn’t like you?” She asked, clarifying.

Colby shrugged. “Maybe?”

Tara rolled her eyes. “Dick.”

“Yup.”

“ _Anyway_ ,” Tara crossed her arm, redirecting the conversation, “Ignoring the knotheaded idiot, pretty sure they’ve put way too much into you guys that you presenting isn’t going to change anything.” Then she smirked, grinning up at him, “Just maybe the fanfiction that we get sent.”

Colby shuddered. “God dammit…” He muttered. Tara had an interesting habit of hopping around the fan base and finding the cringiest stuff she could and sending it to him and Sam. He’d just stopped clicking the links. “But like, John and Ashley don’t… like I just...” He crossed his arms. “Makes me nervous.” He admitted. “They’re uh… like this whole other thing, you know?”

“Colby…” Tara sighed, “I… Okay, I get not telling the team, but…” She looked at him with a worried look in her eyes, “Your parents? Why haven’t you told them?”

Colby looked away again, feeling his chest ache. “I...fuck, Tara…” Because he hadn’t. Even though maybe they should have been the first ones to know. And maybe it was because this whole thing was borderline embarrassing (even though it shouldn’t be) and it felt like a sex thing (which it wasn’t) that he didn’t want to talk to his parents about but… He’d kinda been unconsciously putting it off. “Because… I don’t know.”

Tara’s voice was soft when she spoke again. “Colby, there is nothing wrong with being an omega.” And there was comfort in her voice, but also that low level of hurt that Colby knew was her feeling just a little bit hurt that he might think that.

“Of course not,” Colby said quickly, “I mean, of course there’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just…” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “It’s never been who I was.” And that was just it wasn’t it? That he could say that it didn’t matter if he was a beta or omega and it didn’t matter that Sam was an Alpha or Tara an omega. 

But now it did matter.

Because this time it was him.

In a society so conscious of secondary genders… It mattered that he was a male omega. And fuck, it was better than it had been a hundred years ago but… it was still very a thing. And things would change when he came out about it.

“But now it is,” Tara reminded him firmly. “Being an omega is part of who you are now. And I…” She looked up and sighed. She leaned back on the couch. “I… like, fuck, Colby, look at me.” And Colby lifted his eyes to meet her gaze. There was something glimmering just behind her eyes. “Look, I’ll be honest, kinda sucks that you think there’s something wrong with being an omega…”

“I don’t…”

“Yes, you do,” Tara cut him off, “And I’m trying not to be hurt by that, but like…”

“Tara…”

“Let me finish Colby,” Tara snapped abruptly, almost glaring at him. More than a little taken aback by her tone, he shut his mouth. Tara stared at him for another moment. Then she nodded and continued. “Look,” And her voice was softer now, “I know you’re really, really unsure about all of this but… you can’t let your team know that. And you _especially_ can’t let the fans know that,” She fussed with the laces on her boots, “Because like, you have a platform, and that means you don’t always get to let everyone know what you actually think, okay?”

Colby barely withheld his snort, because fuck did he know that. But Tara’s voice was tight with some sort of emotion, and Colby watched as she took a moment to gather herself before she continued.

“Being an omega is not something to be ashamed of,” Tara repeated, and there was a certain fire back in her voice, like she was willing Colby to believe her. “And I really don’t give a fuck if you think it is. Because this isn’t going to change, Colby, and when you tell your fans, they need to believe that it’s okay.” She looked away then, down at her lap. “There’s enough shit we have to deal with without the people we look up to telling us we’re wrong.”

 _Ow…_ And that line had an undercurrent of personal hurt.

Colby grimaced, looking away too. Fuck… Tara was a firecracker of a personality. She was blunt, sarcastic, and always seemed to be in control and a solid fixture in his life. To see this vulnerability, this hurt… brought on by him…

Kinda felt like someone had stabbed him in the chest.

“I… Tara, I’m sorry,” Colby murmured. He wandered back over to Tara, sitting down on the sofa as well. “I don’t… I never…”

Tara shook her head, effectively silencing him. He watched her think, her lips moving without words. And when she looked back up at him, there were tears in her eyes. Immediately, Colby felt awful. “Look,” She said, and her voice was watery but strong, “At some point, you’re going to figure out that it doesn’t matter that you’re an omega. But like, until you do…” She huffed a short, broken little laugh, “Just don’t let anyone else know you haven’t figured it out, ‘kay?”

Colby nodded, reaching out for his friend and pulling her into a hug. He heard a little laugh from her that might have been the start of a sob, but she hugged him back. She felt even tinier than usual against his chest. “I’m sorry…” Colby started an apology, really not having meant to make her cry, but Tara shook her head.

“I like, cry over everything,” She said, laughing a little bit. “Don’t fucking worry about it.” But her words had still clearly come out on a sob, so Colby just held her.

Fuck…

He really fucking needed to get his shit together.

And that was what led to him in his room alone later that night, staring at his phone, his groupchat with his parents up. “Okay…” He murmured, “Okay…” And he sent, _You guys free to talk?_

The response came fairly quickly, from Colby’s mom. _Sure thing, honey, you okay?_

Colby cracked a bit of a smile. That was his mom. _Can I call_?

 _Of course._ His dad.

Colby took a deep breath. He was going to do this.

_There was nothing wrong with being an omega…_

And he pressed call.

OOO

Colby found Sam later in the evening Monday night.

“They’re okay with it,” Colby’d told him quietly, after about half an hour of watching something stupid on TV, some car show Sam had on in the background while he flipped through his phone. “My parents, I mean.”

Sam looked over at him. “I mean, duh,” He commented. “Your parents were never going to have a problem with it.”

But Colby didn’t take the bait, still staring absently in front of him. “I know they weren’t but…” He shrugged. “I dunno…”

Sam nodded. He kinda got it. He’d had to tell his parents about presenting as well. Although he imagined the conversation was a little different between your kid presenting Alpha and your kid presenting omega. “At least you didn’t have to sit through your parents reminding you about consent,” Sam commented, because that had been a lecture he’d gotten about Kat.

Like Kat hadn’t been the one to initiate sex during his first rut.

Like Sam would ever even think about taking something Kat didn’t want to give.

That had hurt more than he’d admit.

Colby looked over at him, sympathy in his eyes. Colby knew about that, because of course he did. Because it was Colby, and he told Colby just about everything. “Yeah…” Was the response he got. Colby seemed to pause a moment, then shifted a little closer to Sam, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

Sam huffed a little bit of a laugh, but didn’t fight the contact, leaning into it. If this was Colby asking for contact, he wasn’t going to say no. Colby was his brother, after all.

“I told them about Brennen,” Colby said quietly, surprising Sam a little bit. The lack of a mildly reproachful look from Colby told Sam that he’d managed to control any sort of outward reaction to the mention of the other Alpha.

He really was trying to be okay with it.

“Yeah?”

Colby chuckled a little bit. “I think I got that consent lecture but in reverse.”

And that made Sam laugh. “I can see that.”

Colby nodded, “Told them you’d kill him first,” And there was still a teasing smile on Colby’s face, but Sam felt a little bit more seriousness to the conversation in his chest.

“Only if he really hurt you,” Sam said, analyzing the words in his head before he spoke them. Because he and Colby were doing a little better since all of this (since their heart to heart the other day) and he didn’t want to fuck that up. God, he didn’t want to fuck it up. “I uh… I know he makes you happy. No matter what my knothead of an Alpha says.” He tried to keep his tone joking.

Colby examined him for a moment, before nodding. “I know…” He said quietly, leaning into Sam just a little bit more. There was a contented, satisfied note to the scent that drifted into Sam’s nose.

Sam let the little bit of tension that had crept into his shoulders go. “Love you,” He murmured quietly.

“Love you too,” Colby responded. Then he chuckled again, “Now uh… now we gotta tell John and Ashley.”

Sam nodded, even as more than a bit of anxiety stole through his chest. “We have a check in with them Wednesday, over skype,” He reminded Colby. “You okay to do it then?”

“I uh…” Colby shrugged, and Sam felt the tension that tightened over his body. He let his arm fall from Sam’s shoulders but stayed close, pressing against him still. “I guess. We gotta do it at some point, right?”

“Yeah,” Sam allowed, “But uh, doesn’t have to be now, dude. Like… We can still wait.” He was already thinking about how John might react. The man had never said anything outwardly toxic or omegaphobic but… Sam suspected there might be something there from the tone differences he took with Sam and Colby sometimes.

“I uh… I don’t think I can, actually,” Colby said, and Sam cast a look up at him.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, like, so...” He shrugged, eyebrows pressing together as he stared off in thought, “I talked to Tara a little bit earlier, and uh…” He chuckled, “She kinda made me feel like an asshole about it.”

“What?” Because Tara could definitely be blunt but he wasn’t sure what this was about. Tara wasn’t one to intentionally make someone feel like an asshole.

Colby let out another short laugh, leaning his head back into the pillow. “She uh… kinda pointed out that uh… I act like I think there’s wrong with me being an omega?” His voice tilted up at the end, like a question.

Sam looked at his hands, considering Colby’s words. “Yeah?” He asked, curious where this was going. Because if he considered it… Tara wasn’t entirely wrong. Not that Sam faulted him for it but… he could see where Tara might take it a little bit more personally.

“I think she’s right,” Colby said, apparently on the same wavelength. “Like, and that sucks to think but…” He fidgeted absently with his pants leg. “I’ve uh… that’s kinda how I’ve been acting…”

Sam nodded, not really disagreeing. “I uh… I can see that,” He admitted.

Colby only looked a little hurt, pressing his lips together in thought. “You think so too?”

Sam shrugged. “I mean like, a little bit but uh…” He crossed his ankled, considering, “I wasn’t much better, when I presented, remember? I was… I was fucking terrified of myself. You remember.” Colby nodded, “So uh, I can’t talk, ya know?” He felt a small smile of remembrance on his face.

Colby nodded again, looking away . “Yeah, you were,” He agreed. His eyebrows furrowed again, and he looked at Sam. “And like, I know you didn’t wait too long to tell people, like a month right?” Sam nodded. “And I know you were still having issues then. Why’d you tell the fans?”

“I mean, helped when we only had a couple hundred thousand fans instead of a couple million,” Sam said wryly, “But uh…” And he tried to think back to that, four years ago, making a video about presenting Alpha. And it was before he and Katrina were out together, and it was one of the first videos on his solo channel and he’d been so fucking nervous but… 

“I needed it done,” He summarized finally. “I needed it to be out so that like…” He took a breath. “Like people would know. Like… people would react how they were gonna react and it wouldn’t be able to affect how I felt about it. Like, I was still gonna have to figure it out but… I’d know how the fans felt before I did that, you know? So they couldn’t fuck me up.”

And Colby nodded at him, so he thought that he actually might have made some sense out of his words. “Yeah,” Colby said, “Yeah, that uh… actually makes a lot of sense.” And he looked out at the TV again. “Huh…”

Sam nodded, turning to look at the TV again. There was comfortable silence between the two for a moment. Colby was the one to bring up their previous conversation. “So… we tell them? John and Ashley?”

Sam swallowed as his heart skipped a few beats. But he still turned and nodded at Colby. “I’m good with it if you are.” He was with Colby. 100%.

Colby bit the inside of his lip, nodding slowly. When he spoke, there was something like resolution in his voice. “I think uh… I think I need it to be out there. Be done, you know?”

Sam grinned, “Yeah, I gotcha brother.” He pressed briefly harder into Colby. “And you know, I’m with you. No matter what they say.”

“And if they’re not okay with it?” Colby asked, and there was that vulnerability again. The honest worry in his eyes broke Sam’s heart. 

But there was only one answer, because there was only one choice. Because Colby came first. 

Sam shrugged. “Then we walk,” He met Colby’s eyes. “It’s you and me first, brother.” He pressed a little harder into Colby, urging the worried look to leave his face. Then he smirked, “‘Sides, we’re worth way too much for them to drop us.”

Colby chuckled a little bit, some of the worry falling from his face. “Okay…” He said quietly, smiling at Sam. “Okay.” He felt the tiniest bit of tension in Colby’s body, but also a nod. “Yeah… yeah, let’s do it.”

Sam nodded, giving Colby one more grin before turning back to the TV. Colby picked up his phone, scrolling absently through his instagram. And Sam grinned a little bit to himself, because he felt like Colby might actually be doing better with this whole omega thing.

And it felt like no time had passed when all of the sudden it was Wednesday at eleven in the morning. The time they were scheduled to meet with John and Ashley. Scheduled to tell them everything.

A wonderful way, of course, to start their Wednesday morning.

“I’m with you,” Sam reminded Colby quietly, “No matter what they say, okay?”

Colby nodded. Colby looked worried, in the subtle sort of way that Sam knew was his friend trying to hide that he was actually worried. He’d known Colby too long.

“Hey, I mean, I got through telling my parents, how bad can John and Ashley be?” Colby tried to smirk at him, and Sam returned a grin to humor his friend. He was doing his best to hide that he might be almost as nervous as Colby was.

The ringing of their Skype pulled Sam out of his head. He glanced at Colby, getting a faint nod before he reached out to click to answer.

John and Ashley’s familiar faces filled the screen. “Good morning, boys,” John opened the conversation.

“Good morning,” Sam and Colby answered back. Sam glanced at Colby, curious when he planned to bring up the whole presenting thing. Because he wanted Colby to be the one to bring it up. Colby met his eyes and gave him a subtle nod.

“We’ve got a lot of numbers to go over today so I hope you’ve had your coffee,” Ashley was already thumbing through her iPad. “Presales on your book are doing a lot better than we anticipated, so I think we can-”

“Uh, actually…” Colby spoke, “I uh, I had something that I wanted to talk about with you guys first.”

Ashley looked mildly surprised to have been cut off, but John just looked curious. “Sure, Colby, what’s up?”

“I uh…” And Colby glanced at Sam, who nodded his support. “So uh, remember how I was sick a couple of weeks ago?”

“Yeah?” Ashley confirmed, John nodding. Sam leaned back in his chair. Colby had missed the meeting that week, Sam telling their managers that he was sick. Because it wasn’t Sam’s job to tell them that he had gone into his first heat ever.

“So… I wasn’t really sick,” Colby’s hands were fidgeting with his rings, under the table where the camera couldn’t see them. “I uh… kinda presented.”

“Presented?” John clarified, “As in secondary gender presented?”

“Uh… yeah…” Colby was rubbing the back of his neck. “Guess I’m kinda a late bloomer all over.” Sam watched him try to smile, try to crack a joke. And for a moment, for one single moment, Sam thought that this was going to be the end of it, and this whole conversation would just be a lot of stress over nothing.

And then John had to go and fuck it all up.

“Well it’s about damn time,” John said, leaning back in his chair and grinning. “You’ve been acting like an Alpha long enough it’ll be nice for you to finally have the designation!”

Colby didn’t physically react, but Sam could smell the irritation and anger that pulsed through his scent. He definitely felt the ‘ _oh fuck you’_ sentiment that lit up his own veins. “Except I didn’t present as Alpha,” He retorted, and Sam turned eyes to Colby because shit, that was Colby’s you’ve-just-said-the-wrong-thing voice. He really didn’t hear that very often.

But when he did… someone had just really fucked up.

“You presented omega?” Ashley was the first one to understand what he meant. Her blue eyes were wide behind the thick makeup she wore.

“Yup,” Colby said, crossing his arms, gaze still even on the screen.

“You’re joking,” John said, and Sam really, really didn’t like the tone John took with Colby.

“Nope,” Colby said, voice curt but somehow still even.

“You got a problem with that?” Sam couldn’t help but add, satisfying the low growl of his Alpha in his chest. He noticed the look that Colby shot him. Grateful, but… cautious. Sam just nodded at him.

No one was going to fuck with Colby.

“No, no, there’s no problem,” John said, seemingly backtracking. The look that Ashley sent her partner told Sam that she was on his and Colby’s side. That gave him some hope for this conversation. “Just was _not_ expecting that.” John looked more than a little ruffled, fixing the lay of the collar of his shirt.

“Well, neither was I,” Colby said, his expression still guarded, still not unraveling at all. “Who the fuck presents at twenty-three?”

“Right, right…” It was a noncommittal answer from John and Sam knew that. Sam was still glaring at him, not really trying to hide the threat in his eyes, a threat from one Alpha to another. The man looked away from the computer at that, He seemed to be thinking about something, eyes moving behind his wire-rimmed glasses. Ashley took a look at John, her lips pursed, before turning back to Sam and Colby.

“How are you doing?” Ashley asked, taking over the conversation and addressing Colby. “Pretty big change, right?”

Colby shrugged tightly, noncommittally. “You know, I’m making it work, like I do with everything.” He managed to crack a smile. “At least Sam’s not calling you from jail this time.”

The comment surprised a snort from Sam and a giggle from Ashley. “If you two ever get arrested again, I swear,” Ashley joked.

“Trust me, I really, really don’t want to…” Sam started to joke back, hoping that this would be the end of the conversation. At least, the awkward part. Unfortunately, that was when John started talking again.

“How are you going to tell your fans?”

And fuck, Sam _really_ didn’t like _that_ tone. He heard the sharp breath Colby took, the calming exhale, felt his friend stiffen and forcibly relax next to him. He felt his hackles raise, swallowing down a growl at the back of his throat. “Same way I’ve told them everything,” Colby said, and his voice was much more even than Sam’s would have been had their roles been reversed. “Sit down in front of a camera and tell them.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Patronizing. That was the word that Sam landed on for the tone in John’s voice. He was barely looking at Colby now.

And Sam tensed, ready to step in and defend Colby if he had to but Colby beat him to it. “Yeah,” Colby said, and his voice was strong. “You got a better idea?” Sam grinned to himself. There was that challenge to his voice that Colby only got when he was at the end of being pissed off.

This was gonna be good.

“I just worry,” John started, and Sam wasn’t sure if he’d caught the warning in Colby’s voice or not. By the way he continued, Sam concluded he hadn’t. “You know there’s a lot of… prejudice… regarding these things.”

“Trust me, I’m aware,” Colby commented dryly. “I’m already running into some.” Sam barely stifled his snort at the casual shade. Damn, he’d missed Colby like this.

“It just…” And John leaned forward to rest his folded hands on the table in front of him. “It might be uh… a better strategy, to... wait a little bit longer to tell your fan base.”

“Why?” Ashley even seemed confused now.

“Yeah, John, why?” Sam said, bumping his leg supportively against Colby’s. “This isn’t going to change. Not gonna really be a better time to tell everyone.”

“We wait too long, they’re gonna think we’ve been lying,” Colby added, passing another grateful look to Sam. “And that’s never something I want to do to them.”

“But with the book coming out soon and filming starting next month for the documentary,” John continued, and he was addressing Sam now, something in his eyes like he expected _Sam_ of all people to be behind him, “It could… _impact_ some people as to whether they want to work with an _omega_.” And there was no missing the disdain with which he said that word.

_Oh fuck you..._

“Then we walk,” Colby said firmly, repeating Sam’s resolution from the other night. He looked over at Sam for a moment. Sam nodded tightly, locking eyes with Colby in the silent promise that Sam was there for him. That Sam stood with whatever choice he made.

John’s and Ashley’s eyes both widened. “You’re not serious,” John said. Ashley was learning back in her seat now, and Sam thought he might see the start of understanding in her eyes. Understanding and… just a little bit of disdain for the man who sat next to her.

“Yeah,” Sam said, and he wasn’t nearly as good at masking the hostility as Colby had been because he saw John and Ashley react to his tone. “This thing started with me and Colby. That’s not gonna change. For any _bigot_ that would turn us down, there’s another that I’m sure would love to work with us.” He knew John didn’t miss the pointed word.

“We know what we’re worth,” Colby picked up after him effortlessly, crossing his arms, still somehow with that even voice. “We’ve been in this long enough. I’m not worried about us. It may be rough for a while but uh, we’ll be fine.”

“And if people really do turn us down because of Colby’s gender,” Sam said, “Then I feel bad for them. Because they’ll be the idiots who lost Sam and Colby.”

Colby shot a little half smile his way. Sam nodded back at him.

They were in this together.

There were a few moments of terse silence. John glared at them in sullen silence as Sam and Colby glared back. Ashley honestly just looked a little overwhelmed, her eyes moving between all of them. Finally, she broke the silence. “Okay, well, Colby, you can go ahead and tell your fans Friday. _I’m_ okay with it,” She put emphasis on the pronoun. She picked up her iPad again. “We’ll uh... take care of things on this side.” She cast a meaningful look around the guys. “We’ll finish this meeting a little later, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Sam said tightly.

“We’ll be in touch,” Ashley said, and after a few curt farewells, Ashley cut the video chat.

With the camera off, most of the energy went out of Colby, and he slumped back into his chair. “Fuck…” He muttered, pressing his hands over his face.

Sam’s reaction was not quite as subdued, his Alpha snarling at someone having disrespected Colby... “What the fuck?” Sam demanded, standing up, anger he hadn’t let loose boiling out of his chest now that he didn’t have to school his expression. “God, I knew John was a bit of an asshole, but that was fucking just…”

Colby nodded, letting his hands fall to his lap. “Fuck…” He breathed again. He looked at Sam. “Think they’ll drop us?” He asked, the tone of his voice telling Sam that he wasn’t sure if he cared or not.

Sam wasn’t sure he did either.

Sam shook his head, “I doubt it,” He said, “They’ll probably just put someone who’s less of a dick with Ashley.” Which, honestly would be the best thing that could happen here. He really didn’t want to deal with finding a new PR team. Not that they hadn’t had other offers but…

Fuck, that was a headache and a half he didn’t need right now.

Colby nodded. “Probably.” He cracked half a smile, “They don’t really want to lose us. We know that.” He huffed a bit of a laugh. “‘Specially now that we know how well the book’s doing.”

“Exactly,” Sam agreed, forcing himself to stop with the pacing. He clenched his hands into fists instead. “God… what a fucking asshole…”

Colby shrugged, “I uh, I guess I’ll get used to it?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “You shouldn’t have to.”

Colby shrugged again, his face pensive. “Yeah, but like, that’s gonna be my life. If we keep this up. ‘Sides… gonna tell the fans Friday and uh… at least I’ve already seen someone be a dick.” And there was some vulnerability again.

“The good ones will stick with us,” Sam said. “And maybe we’ll take a hit for a bit but… we bounce back. We always do.”

And when Sam looked at Colby again, there was a small smile on his lips. “Yeah... yeah, we do.”

“We’re gonna do this, Brother,” Sam stepped over to Colby, offering him a hand. Colby smirked a little bit, but took it. “I’m with you, no matter what.”

“Of course, Brother,” Colby let Sam pull him to his feet.

“And dude?” Colby met his eyes, “Fuckin’ proud of you.”

And the little smile that pulled across Colby’s lips warmed his whole chest. “Thanks, man.” He glanced at his watch. “You hungry?”

Sam grinned. “Starving…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit, the plot in this chapter. It's why it was so long in coming. I wanted to do the John and Ashley conversation and that took some brain doing, especially to get from the start of the chapter to the end.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed!
> 
> Thank you for bearing with me through the longer wait for a chapter. My life kinda exploded (all good things like my birthday and getting into my first choice grad school) but still a whole lotta chaos. So uh, plot heavy chapter needed more time.
> 
> Next chapter should be a tad bit lighter.
> 
> Maybe.
> 
> Alrighty, well, as always, lemme know what you think, and I'll see you in the next one!


	13. Chapter 13

_“Hey, we good?” Brennen had asked him quietly, his hand catching Colby’s shoulder when he’d left Sunday night._

_And Brennen’s eyes had been worried, earnest, and so Colby had just nodded. “Yeah, we’re good, man.”_

_Brennen had looked down, back up, a cautiously relieved grin growing on his face. “Okay, cool, cool. I’ll uh… I’ll see you later, okay?”_

_Colby nodded again, “Yeah, definitely, man.”_

_And it wasn’t until Brennen had left his sight, until he’d been curled up in the bed he’d been in with Brennen earlier that day that he realized that he had lied._

_Hey, you wanna do something fun?_ The text came through from Brennen while Colby and Sam were hanging out downstairs with Jake, Tara, and Kat. It was Wednesday night, and Colby was already several drinks deep after the bullshit with John and Ashley this morning.

They’d gotten an email from their PR agency earlier that afternoon, assuring Sam and Colby that they were not, in fact, being dropped. There was something about a Civil Acts Law and apologies (“A don’t-sue-us,” Sam had commented) but they were assured that they would find someone else to work directly with Sam and Colby and that Colby’s new status would not be a problem.

Fucking Christ that was a thing he still had to deal with…

And now Brennen was texting him, and even a little drunk that still caused some wiggle of unease in his stomach. Something must have shown in his face, because Colby got a concerned Sam looking at him.

“Hey, you good, dude?” Sam’s question pulled Colby out of his head. He glanced up at Sam, shrugging.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Colby said, “Brennen texted.”

Some caution took over Sam’s face, but it wasn’t the blatant hostility of before. For all the issues Sam and Colby had had over Brennen, Colby had to give it to Sam. He really was doing better with the other Alpha.

And god, had Colby not realized how much he’d needed that.

“You good?” Sam asked, concern still in his face.

Colby snorted, “Yeah, I can handle Brennen texting me, dude.”

Sam cracked a little smile and turned his attention back to Katrina, now up and dancing to something with Tara. Sounded like another TikTok.

Colby turned back to his phone. _When?_ He sent back.

_Tonight?_

_Dude, I’m already drinking..._

_I’ll drive :)_

There was an almost instant mental image of a smile in that text message, and Colby found himself smiling a little bit too. There was a little bit of apprehension, because Colby still didn’t feel in control of this whole omega thing, and Brennen definitely made that worse but…

Fuck, he missed Brennen. A lot.

It had only been like three days but… shit, this must be what that whole soulmate thing felt like. He suddenly almost regretted all the shit he’d given Sam for Kat over the years.

Almost. Sam was his best friend. That warranted him a little bit of shit.

_You got a plan?_

_Adventure, brother_

_It’s almost nine._

_Nighttime adventure, brother_

Colby grinned, shrugging and sending back. _Sure, I’m down :)._ Why the fuck not, right? Not like he had anywhere to be tomorrow. Or a hangover to worry about.

_Cool. Be there in like 20!_

Colby chuckled a little bit, looking up from his phone to see Tara looking at him. At her quirked eyebrow he say, “Brennen’s gonna come grab me.”

“You’re leaving us, brother?” Jake slurred, and he definitely had the most to drink out of all of them. He’d gotten up and wandered over to Tara, his arms tight around her waist and his nose in her neck.

Colby chuckled. “Yeah.”

“Have fun,” Kat chirped, and she was draped over Sam’s back now. Colby thought she might have been murmuring something in his ear. Sam looked up at him, and there was some apprehension on his face, but to his credit, he just nodded at Colby.

“See ya,” He gave a short wave.

Colby climbed up from his chair, waving a good night to all of them. It was only 8:30 at night, but they’d been drinking since four so he guessed the other four weren’t long for this world. The couples would probably retreat to their separate rooms before too long.

He didn’t know what Brennen’s plan was, but he threw on some full length joggers with sneakers, and was sitting in the driveway scrolling through his phone when Brennen pulled up.

Brennen’s car looked particularly spotless tonight, not that it ever looked dirty. Brennen loved his car way too much for that. “Clean the car recently?” Colby asked as he climbed into the passenger side.

He hadn’t even noticed the mild amount of tension in his chest until it relaxed as Brennen’s scent met his nose. He took a breath of Brennen’s scent, watching as Brennen seemed to do the same. He expected some sort of gesture of affection, maybe a kiss or an outstretched hand. But Brennen released the breath, a grin growing on his face. “You noticed,” He stroked the dashboard affectionately, “Cleaned her this morning.”

Colby nodded. Huh, maybe they weren’t there yet. Or maybe Brennen was being especially careful? Whatever the reason, he shouldn’t be weirded out by it. “Thought so,” He grinned at Brennen, trying to hide his thoughts.

“She needed some one on one time,” Brennen gave the car one more adoring smile before dropping his hand to the gearshift. “You ready for an adventure?”

“Yeah,” Colby said, and now that he hadn’t gotten the kiss he was expecting, the kiss he had been almost a little worried about, he wanted it. If Brennen’s Alpha had missed Colby nearly as much as his omega had missed Brennen then… “You good?”

Brennen sent him a confused look. “Yeah, I’m good. You good?”

“Yeah…” And Colby would deny later that there was any sort of petulance in his voice. “Just uh…” He knew he was blushing, “Can I kiss you?”

Brennen’s face shifted then, from something jovial and lighthearted to something more sincere. “I... yeah, man, you can totally kiss me.” Then there was a teasing note to his grin, “You don’t have to ask, you know. That’s kinda how this whole dating things works.”

Colby felt a little burst of warmth in his chest at Brennen’s verbal confirmation that they were, indeed, dating. “Okay, cool, because I was…” Colby fumbled for words for a minute before he rolled his eyes, “Oh fuck it.” And he leaned over in the car to grip into Brennen’s hair and pull his mouth to his. He heard and felt Brennen’s muffled chuckle against his lips, feeling Brennen’s arm sneak around his rib cage to hold him back.

Some sort of scent of contented Alpha drifted into his nose, and Colby felt another little burst of happiness in his chest. He wasn’t really aware of how solidly he was kissing Brennen, pressing him back and pulling him in, until he felt a tap on his shoulder. Brennen gently broke the kiss, laughing a little bit as he rested his forehead against Colby’s. “You keep kissing me like that and we’re not gonna get very far,” He murmured, his voice almost a growl, and Colby had to fight the shudder that wanted to burst through him at the tone.

Because fuck, Brennen sounded hot…

“Colby, hey,” Brennen shook him a little bit, and that little bit of concern was back in his voice. “You good, man?”

Colby shook himself, getting on top of the low thrum of hormones that was starting in his abdomen. “Yeah, I’m good, man,” He said, “Just uh… I’m a little drunk and uh…” He felt a bashful grin come across his face, “I missed you.”

Brennen’s face softened. “Missed you too, man.” He reached for one of Colby’s hands, pulling it into his lap. He paused for a moment, before he murmured, “I uh… not gonna lie, I was kinda nervous, coming over tonight.”

“Why?” Colby looked down at his hand, wrapped in Brennen’s.

There was some kind of nervous grin on Brennen’s face. “I mean, the last time I kissed you didn’t exactly go great, you know?”

Colby grimaced, brain flashing back to the other night, Brennen holding him against his chest as he shuddered, absolutely terrified of his body and his gender and how he couldn’t fucking keep control. The way he had almost been nervous to see Brennen again. “Yeah…” He said faintly.

“I’m sorry,” Brennen said quietly, honestly. “I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t’ve let that go so far. Like I know that all of this is so new to you and that’s not even talking about the whole soulmates thing and me being your Alpha thing-”

“You’re not my Alpha,” The phrase flew from Colby’s mouth almost without his permission, a knee jerk reaction to the idea.

He wasn’t anyone’s anything.

“I know, I’m sorry…” Brennen amended quickly, “Of course I’m not but dude, Colby…” He groaned, “I mean, you were…like you weren’t all there and I could have like…”

“Brennen…”

“Like what if I had been close to a rut and my hormones were closer to the surface…”

Colby sighed, pressing a hand into his face, “Dude…”

And there was real fear in Brennen’s eyes as he continued unabated, “I could have like… like raped you or something…”

Colby juddered in shock at the idea. “Jesus, fuck, man,” Colby shook his head. He was way too intoxicated to be having this conversation, “What is it with you and like… like I know I’m hot but…” He groaned, leaning back. “Why are you like…” Because he couldn’t imagine Brennen doing that to him. Or anyone.

Brennen just shrugged, honest distress across his face that he tried to mask with half a smile. “Just something I can’t get out of my head. It’s kinda stupid, I know…”

“It’s not…” Colby sighed, pressing his hand through his hair. And he could say that it was a stupid thought, but the other night, if Brennen hadn’t stopped things Colby sure as shit wouldn’t have… the possibility became more real in his head.

It caused a little shiver of fear to run down his spine. But Brennen was still looking at him, and Colby spoke the next line with legitimate conviction.

Because Brennen wouldn’t ever intentionally hurt him.

“You wouldn’t do that to me. I trust you.” And he pulled Brennen’s hands towards him, pressing a kiss to the back of his hands. “I trust you.”

Brennen snorted a little bit, still looking doubtful. “Thanks, man,” He said. “Just uh… I just want _us_ to be okay, okay? The other night…”

“Dude, the other night…” And how had this switched to Colby comforting Brennen? “The other night sucked. That uh, that scared the shit out of me, fuckin’ honestly…”

“I’m sorry…”

“No, I…” Colby sighed, rubbing Brennen’s hand gently. “I mean, it’s not like you tried to fuckin’, space me out or whatever. I don’t think uh… either of us expected that whole thing…”

“I just wanted to, you know, make you feel good,” Brennen said, staring at their joined hands. “I never… like if I had known…”

“It wasn’t…” Colby groaned, squeezing Brennen’s hand. “Like it _was_ good, man. I fuckin’...” He felt the heat in his face but he continued. “Like it was intense but it was good and I was enjoying it, I mean… I fucking came, obviously, it just…” He sighed, “Brennen, can you… Like fuckin’ look at me man, please?”

Brennen lifted his eyes to Colby’s. And Colby tried to put all the conviction in the world into his voice, “I still fuckin’ want you, okay? Like, that hasn’t… hasn’t changed. At all.”

Brennen’s face seemed to lighten considerably. “You do?”

Colby rolled his eyes, “You’re an idiot,” And he pulled Brennen into him again, Brennen laughing as the movement turned into a clumsy kiss, one of Brennen’s hands on his chest, Colby having ended up cupping Brennen’s face with his own.

Brennen was warm and solid and comforting against him, his hands and his lips just warm and good and… right. Right and… like they were meant to be here.

He was never going to judge that soulmate shit again. Not when he could physically feel this thing with Brennen.

“Just, you know, going forward…” Colby ran his thumb across Brennen’s cheek. I just need you to… I need _us_ to take this really slow, okay? Because I’m not… I’m not comfortable…” And all of the insecurity came back in that moment, all of the ways his body just didn’t feel like his right now, all of the ways he felt like he was just completely losing… “I need you to help me like, stay in control, okay? Whatever that takes.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course…”. Brennen agreed instantly. “And I’m sorry if…” He caught himself on the apology. “Nothing you don’t want. Promise.”

Colby let out a shaky breath. “Okay. Okay...” Colby was the first to pull away this time, giving Brennen another quick peck before he pulled back again. “We’re… we’re good, man. I trust you. At least,” And he made sure Brennen was looking at him. “I am if you are.”

Brennen nodded, seeming to release a breath at his words. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good,” He said, “‘Least, I wanna be.”

Colby grinned. “Good.” And he gently pushed Brennen back to the driver’s seat. Because that conversation had been needed, but Colby didn’t want to dwell on the heavy. That had never been he and Brennen's relationship and he didn’t want that to start now. “Don’t you have some sort of night time adventure that you wanted to take me on?” 

Brennen nodded, a more lighthearted smile coming shyly to his features. “Yeah, if you wanna.”

“Yeah, I wanna,” He said, “Wouldn’t have gotten into the car with you if I didn’t.”

And it was Brennen’s turn to roll his eyes. “Yeah, yeah…” He threw his seatbelt back on, Colby doing the same. And his buzz had been pretty impacted by the previous conversation, so he glanced to the back of the car.

“Did you bring alcohol?”

“It’s in the back,” Brennen tossed at him, putting the car into reverse and glancing out the back. “You can have some when we get there.”

“Lame,” Colby complained, but didn’t really feel it. Brennen’s grin told him he understood.

Brennen backed the car out of the driveway. Once he’d reached the street, he put it into drive. That was when Colby found his hand reaching across the gearshift for Colby’s. Colby took it without question, tossing a teasingly affectionate look at Brennen. Brennen just grinned, squeezing his hand, and pressed the gas.

LA was a quieter city at night. It never really stopped, not like Colby’s small town in Kansas, mostly quiet after 10pm, but its constant city bustle had a different tone. There were still cars on the road, but they drove with less urgency, feeling almost like casual friends on Colby and Brennen’s drive. Brennen moved through traffic with practiced ease. It had taken Colby a while to get used to these highways. Brennen had learned to drive on them.

It was almost a kind of performance art to watch Brennen drive on them.

Colby glanced over to Brennen, watching the shadows of the streetlights pass over his face. The Alpha was rapping along loudly to the music blasting over his speakers, and Colby was chiming in on the chorus when he knew it.

But his eyes were most just watching Brennen, and noting just how goddamn _pretty_ he was.

It was about a half an hour drive. Brennen got them out of the thick of the city, driving up into the mountains, because of course he should have known that they would be leaving the cityscape. Brennen had been on a nature kick recently, occasionally dragging Colby to cool spots he’d found. It was usually during the day, so Colby wondered what he had planned for the near darkness of more rural LA.

Brennen slowed near a trailhead that Colby almost missed. Probably would have missed it if Brennen hadn’t pulled the car directly off the road in front of it and illuminated it with the headlights from the car.

“How the fuck do you find these places?” Colby asked, unbuckling his seatbelt and climbing out of the car. Brennen was already digging in the trunk.

Brennen gave a noncommittal noise, “I get bored,” He said, and when Colby made his way to Brennen’s side, Brennen passed him a can. “Claw?”

Colby grinned, “Hell yeah.” But then he cast a look at the shadowy trail ahead. “You got flashlights or something, bro, cause like…” His next sentence was cut off by Brennen next handing him a flashlight. Colby laughed a little bit. “You got this.”

“I plan shit sometimes,” Brennen tossed teasingly at him. He shouldered a backpack. “You still wanna do this?”

Colby nodded, excited now. “Hell yeah. You know I love this shit.”

“Good,” Brennen nodded. And then he closed the trunk, locking the car. “Let’s go.”

Colby nodded, following Brennen as he headed into the woods. They didn’t get very far before Colby started to realize that this wasn’t just some sort of hiker forged path. It felt wide enough to be a driveway. Wildly overgrown, but the growth of the larger trees maintained a distance large enough to allow a car. “Yo, is this someone’s driveway?” Colby asked, some alarm bells going off even with the excitement.

“Yeah,” Brennen said, still stepping confidently. “But no one lives here. When we get to the house you’ll see. Probably been abandoned for… I dunno, like 5 years? I think everyone’s forgotten it’s here.”

Colby felt a grin tug at his lips, “A bando date? How romantic.”

Brennen cast a grin back at him. “I’ll do you one better,” He said, “Wait until you see this.”

Colby just laughed, shaking his head and following.

They came upon the house not too long after that. Brennen wasn’t wrong. It was clear that no one had made any effort to maintain this place in way too long. It was falling apart, but had a certain…

Colby took in the little building, a little tendril of affection curling around his heart. Abandoned things always had a certain quality to them, a certain… beauty to them. There was something really cool and… beautiful… about watching nature take a place back, that mixing of the natural world and the human one. “This is a cool one,” He said, flashing his light on the structure. “You been inside?”

“Yeah,” Brennen said, and Colby noticed that Brennen had come to his side. His hand found Brennen’s almost subconsciously. “It’s uh, you know, pretty typical house inside.” He squeezed Colby’s hand. “But uh… that’s not what I’m here to show you.”

“Really?” Colby asked, turning away from the house to look at the Alpha. His boyfriend? God, that sounded weird, and Colby refused to allow the first phrase that had popped into his head.

_His Alpha…_

“Yeah,” Brennen confirmed, “Come on, this way.” And without letting go of Colby he pulled him towards the house. They walked around the side walls of the house, and they’d gotten behind the house and into the backyard when Colby saw what Brennen was trying to show him.

This time the grin was huge. “There’s a fucking treehouse?”

“Right?” Brennen said, and there was equally as much excitement in his voice. “I uh… I’ve been kinda trying to fix it up a little bit when I have time. It needs a lot more love, and I’ve only really got like, the first level back to functional but…”

“There’s more than one level?”

“Dude, I don’t know who used to live here but they built a bomb ass treehouse,” They’d reached the structure, and Brennen grinned up at it. “But uh, thought you would think it was cool.”

“I uh… I definitely do,” Colby agreed, feeling the excited beat of his heart in his chest. “How do we get up?” He started casting his gaze and his flashlight around the tree.

“I think there was a rope ladder but uh, it’s gone now. I’ve been just climbing the tree…”

It was with a childlike sense of joy that Colby followed Brennen to the large tree, pretty easily finding handholds and footholds to hoist himself up the tree with. There hadn’t been too many trees large enough to climb like this in Kansas, and that was what he attributed to how much he liked to climb. Maybe also something to do with the elevation never changing in his home state. He liked being up high, away from the ground.

Contrary to what others might feel, it made him feel safe.

He made it out to the body of the treehouse without too much difficulty, noticing that Brennen had indeed put a new floor down. “Dude, how’d you get this up here?” He asked, stepping out of the way of the doorway so Brennen could enter with him.

“Stand over there, I’ve got a blanket,” Brennen said, and Colby just moved out of the way while Brennen dug through his backpack. “And uh… lots of rope.”

“Rope, huh?” Colby asked, unable to help teasing Brennen a little bit. “Why you got all that rope lying around?”

Brennen winked at him, “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He’d finished laying out the blanket, and when Colby went to sit down he did too. He pulled out another White Claw, offering it to Colby, but Colby shook his head.

“I’m good, thanks.”

Brennen shrugged, “More for me,” And he cracked into it.

Colby grinned affectionately. He scooted closer to Brennen, seeking out contact again. Brennen didn’t begrudge him, and the two ended up pressed together, leaning against one of the walls. The flashlights lit up the small room in a way that could have been creepy, but listening to the sounds of the outside, and wrapped up in Brennen’s warmth and scent, Colby couldn’t feel safer.

“This is uh… this is really cool,” He spoke softly to Brennen. Brennen had leaned his head back against the wall of the treehouse, and he opened his eyes to look at Colby. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

Brennen shrugged, a slight smile on his face. “Thought you’d like it,” He glanced around at the walls. “If you got some like, nicer lights up in here this place would look really cool.”

Colby nodded, “Yeah, yeah it would.”

“Felt like… it would be good to get away…” Brennen continued, arm lifting to wrap around Colby’s shoulders and pull him closer. Colby smiled a little bit, leaning into Brennen and letting his head rest on his shoulder. Brennen’s scent was thick and protective here, and he felt the scent of the- _his_ \- Alpha do his best to soothe his nerves. “You’ve uh… kinda had a lot going on recently.”

Colby grimaced. That was an understatement. “Did I uh… so Sam and I told John and Ashley about the whole presenting thing today,” Colby said quietly, feeling the anxiety pick up in his chest. He took another calming breath of Brennen’s scent.

That may have been a mistake, because he smelled the pulse of _protectdefendmine_ that filled Brennen’s scent. “Jesus fucking Alphas…” Colby muttered, because Sam had done the same shit. “What is it with you two?”

“What do you-”

And Brennen sounded slightly offended, so Colby waved him off. “No, you’re fine. You and Sam keep doing this… possessive thing with me.”

There was the guilty grin. “Sorry…” Brennen looked away, “I’m trying not to be creepy about it. It’s uh…” He laughed a little bit, “It’s not easy to control.”

That made something in Colby’s stomach turn over uneasily. “Why?” He asked, and shit, he hadn’t expected the bitterness that would come out with that question. What he probably should have expected was the blunt answer he got, because it was Brennen, and while Sam always made an effort to put things in a nice way, Brennen didn’t.

“Because you’re mine,” Brennen said, shrugging. 

Colby almost missed what came out of his mouth next in the rush out anger and indignance that burst through his chest, but before he could snap at Brennen that he absolutely was _not_ Brennen’s his friend continued, “I mean, I know you’re not, actually, like, mine in any sort of way, but like…” He shrugged again. “My uh… brain gets really unhappy when anyone is an ass to you because there’s uh… a part of my brain that sees you that way.”

“I’m not yours,” Colby felt the need to say quietly, still feeling that dissonance in his chest because he had been pissed yeah, but something… something in him had given a little wiggle of excitement at Brennen’s words.

_I am not my biology…_

“I know,” Brennen said, and he had the decency to give Colby an apologetic look. “It’s not the logical part of my brain. I’m just…” He sighed, “Trying to be honest here…”

“I…” Colby let out a noise of frustration. “I know that. I know, I just… fuck… I appreciate you being honest, I do, I just…” He pressed a hand into his face, “Doesn’t mean I like it.”

“It be like that,” Brennen nodded sagely. He leaned over and pressed a kiss into the top of Colby’s head. Colby gave a huff of a laugh, leaning up to give Brennen a proper kiss on the mouth. It was short, sweet, and Colby leaned his head back against the wall of the treehouse. “So… you told Ashley and John?” Brennen asked.

“Oh shit, yeah,” Colby said, lifting his head.

“How uh…”

“Not great,” Colby pulled a knee into his chest. “John was kinda a dick, like we thought. Got uh, super omegaphobic at me.”

“Yeah?” There was warning in Brennen’s tone.

“Sam and I shot him down though,” Colby grinned a little bit at the memory. “Basically, told them that they’d regret dropping us and that if he was gonna be a dick we’d walk.”

Brennen’s eyes widened a little bit, “And?”

“And we hung up,” Colby laughed a little bit, a little of the panic from earlier bleeding into his stomach, “We hung up and we were ready for uh, ready for the worst but they called us later,” He shrugged, “Said they’d find someone else to work with us.”

“Huh…” Brennen leaned back against the wall. “I was not expecting that.”

“Me neither, honestly,” Colby said, leaning back too. “Thought me and Sam were gonna have to go back to square one with that.” He winced, “Glad we didn’t.”

“Me too…” Brennen said, still seeming surprised, “That’s… huh.” Colby saw him glance at him from the corner of his eye, “I’m glad.”

“Me too.”

There was quiet for a few moments, and then Brennen murmured, “Proud of you.”

Colby turned his head, “Why?”

“For you know, standing up for yourself, and shit,” Brennen said. “I uh… I know the omega stuff has really been fucking with you so… good job not uh, letting it fuck with you I guess.”

Colby felt a warm little tingle in his chest. “Thanks man,” Colby sad quietly, “It’s uh… it’s definitely not fuckin’ easy but uh… I’m trying, you know?”

Brennen nodded. “It’s kinda a lot.”

Colby snorted, “You’re not joking.”

There was quiet between them for a few moments again. Brennen shifted, reaching for Colby’s hand and pressing it between his own. Colby glanced down, watching Brennen’s hands play with his. Brennen fidgeted briefly with the Cartier ring, the one he and Sam shared, but he didn’t linger.

Colby’s eyes moved from Brennen’s hands, up his arms, across his chest and to his face. Brennen’s eyes were focused on his hands, but as Colby continued to look at him, his eyes moved to meet his. “Hey…” Brennen breathed, and Colby started to smell something like lust bleeding over at him.

“Hey,” Colby smiled at him, and he shifted to his knees so that he could look at Brennen properly. Brennen continued to hold his hand, but his eyes followed Colby’s. There was something like heat simmering low in them.

“Can I…” Brennen dropped one of his hands, moving it instead to reach for Colby’s face. Colby felt his breath catch, pausing and watching Brennen’s fingers. They paused just before they reached his face. “Can I touch you?” He asked quietly.

“Yeah…” Colby murmured, and he almost reminded Brennen to avoid the triggers, but he… he trusted Brennen. Brennen wouldn’t take advantage of him.

At least, in any way he didn’t like.

He watched Brennen swallow, but then his fingertips made contact with Colby’s face. He let his fingers run across Colby’s cheeks, down his jawline, to his chin and to his lips. Colby grinned at the lip contact, tongue darting out to lick Brennen’s fingers in what was supposed to be a ‘you put your fingers on my mouth you’re gonna get licked’ sort of thing.

That was not what it turned into. Brennen’s breath sucked into his lungs, coming out as a low growl and he watched Brennen’s hand twitch, moving downward like it wanted to move to grip his throat but…

He watched Brennen take a deep breath, moving his hand to press against Colby’s chest. It was only then that Colby realized how his breath had quickened, shallowed, taking in more and more of the scent of arousal that was coming from Brennen.

That was coming from him.

Colby tried to take in the sensations moving through him, new and old. There was the familiar racing of his heart, changes in his breathing, and stiffening of his dick, but also… that new emptiness in his gut, that hint of wet from his ass.

Was he… was he okay with this?

“You good?” Brennen was the one to ask the question. Brennen was clearly not unaffected, eyes dark on him, scent thick and heady but still in control. Very in control.

Colby considered for a moment, because he was trying to be, trying to take the new sensations as they came, accept that they were just his body now.

That they were normal for him now.

And there was still some uncomfortable worming in his stomach, some of his brain screaming _wrong wrong wrong_ but... he was maybe mostly okay. Maybe. “I think so…” He said quietly.

Brennen let out a shakey breath. “Okay… okay, good…” He said. His hands fidgeted in Colby’s, the one on his chest drawing small circles. “Can I… can I touch you?”

And Colby knew what that meant, what Brennen was asking him. And he thought about it, he really did. And then he shook his head.

Brennen did hide the disappointment well, Colby had to give him that, but the disappointment didn’t last long, his expression lost on a surprised gasp of pleasure.

Because Colby had just gripped his cock inside of his pants.

“I wanna touch you…” Colby said, massaging the flesh lightly. Brennen’s eyes refocused, mouth still slightly open as he looked at Colby. “Is that okay?”

And he didn’t really need the verbal confirmation, because Brennen was hardening in his hand and shifting his hips subtly, but it still made lust burst in his chest when Brennen growled, “Please…”

And Colby wasn’t going to say no to that...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a plan for this chapter, a very good plan. But now, it’s not gonna happen because the characters said no. Now uh... maybe smut next chapter, maybe plot. We'll see.
> 
> Okay, this every two weeks schedule is working for me. Not sure if you guys have felt it recently, but I think the pandemic is finally getting to me and its really affecting my writing. Not thrilled but making it work. Y'all I never thought this story would go so long but here we are!
> 
> Alright, as always, let me know what you thought, and I'll see you all in the next one!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all smut. Enjoy!

Colby leaned forward to claim Brennen’s lips with his. He felt the laugh and groan against his mouth as Brennen kissed him back. Brennen’s hands spasmed on his chest, in his hands, as his hips thrust up into his grip. “You’re a little shit, you know that?” Brennen murmured.

“You like it,” He lifted his hand from Brennen’s groin, not missing the little aborted hip thrust that Brennen made. However, he also saw as Brennen seemed to consciously school himself, control his urge to reach for Colby and demand more. Instead, he seemed to settle for letting out a little growl.

Fuck, the Alpha’s eyes were so intense on him.

Seeing that, seeing how hard Brennen was having to work to control himself, sent a little thrill of excitement along with a slight twinge of caution. It was well warranted but well, he wasn’t really worried because Brennen… he trusted Brennen.

Brennen wouldn’t take something he wasn’t ready to give.

He couldn’t help the way his body reacted to the lusty growl, and he let himself shift, moving to kneel over Brennen’s outstretched legs so that he could really get up in Brennen’s space. He released Brennen’s hand so he could grip into the hair at the back of Brennen’s neck.

Brennen growled against his lips, his hand moving to grip solidly into Colby’s thigh. For some reason that was sensitive, and Colby felt a gasp break from his lips. “Fuck…” He’d broken the kiss when Brennen gripped his thigh so he saw the grin that pulled at Brennen’s lips.

“Sensitive, huh?”

“Fucking… apparently…” Colby didn’t know what to do with that, because his body had never been this sensitive during sex, and he’d had enough of it over the years to know that. “This is… this is new…”

Brennen seemed to hesitate a little bit. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not… I’m not usually _this_ sensitive?” Colby tried, and Brennen’s thumb made a circle on his inner thigh and he couldn’t stop the quick intake of breath. “This is… this is new…” And that was the start of slick at his ass.

Brennen detached his hands entirely, lifting them to hover at about shoulder height. “Fuck, man, I’m sorry, we can totally stop…”

Colby tried not to feel a disproportionate amount of abandonment at the loss of contact, because the pulse of lust he could smell from Brennen told him that Brennen in no way _wanted_ to stop touching him. “I didn’t say that…” Colby said, realizing even as he said it that he didn’t really _want_ Brennen to stop either. “Just…” And he reached out and gripped Brennen’s hands with his, moving them back to grip into his hips. “Don’t stop but… slow…”

Brennen looked up at him, concern still on his face, “You sure?”

“I want you…” And he did. His dick was hardening, his ass was wet, and if he couldn’t satisfy the urge to have Brennen inside of him (because that still made him feel slightly sick) he could still share this intimate pleasure with Brennen in other ways.

So he shifted his weight forward, aligning his groin with Brennen’s so that they could press together and _grind_ … Brennen’s eyes widened, his mouth falling open before he grinned. Colby felt his face mirror the expression, and he looped his arms around Brennen’s neck, shifting his hips to continue the steady pressure.

And that sensation, that pressure and stroking licked a fire up his spine. He could smell Brennen’s body reacting to his, and the hormones he’d come to know started bubbling up in his gut. But he recognized them this time, able to control them as they started and get on top of them.

Because he was fucking sensitive but it was _good_ …

There were low little growling gasps coming out of his throat as he moved, he recognized them now, opening his eyes to see Brennen looking at him with a burning combination of affection and desire. His body shuddered in reaction, wanting to extend his neck for Brennen, for the Alpha to bite and claim but he got on top of that, not wanting his new hormones to ruin yet another encounter that was starting off so good…

So Colby pulled back from Brennen a little bit, so that Brennen could no longer grind up into him. He heard a brief noise of displeasure, felt Brennen’s hands tighten on his hips, but he didn’t try to pull Colby back into him, just meeting his eyes with a low fire in them.

“Babe…”

“My turn,” Colby murmured, pushing a little bit of dominance into his tone. Brennen cocked an eyebrow at him, but then turned his head so that it exposed his neck, a faint challenge in his eyes. Colby just grinned, wrapping a hand into Brennen’s hair and leaning forward to nip into his neck.

Brennen’s abdomen tightened, a breathless whine of a noise coming from him and fuck, Colby liked that noise. His hands tightened on Colby’s hips again, and Colby nipped into his neck a little harder, following the bite with his tongue, laving over the sensitive skin.

He wasn’t biting hard enough or in the right place to claim, but Colby knew Brennen wouldn’t be able to ignore the bites. He was proved right when Brennen groaned, “Colby…” Brennen shifted his hips, “That’s not fair, man.”

Colby chuckled a little bit, “Payback,” He whispered, and he really heard the low, rumbling growl that evoked.

“You’re a dick.” Colby gave him another nip and he let out a higher pitched noise. “That’s sensitive…” But his hands didn’t move from Colby’s hips, from where it was safe.

“I know…” Colby whispered, “You uh, you should take your shirt off.”

“Then you too,” Brennen tossed back, and they were in unspoken agreement as they both started pulling at shirts and fabric, and then they were looking at each other. The light cast by the flashlights lit up the angles of his face, the lines of his muscles, lit up his eyes. His scent was low but present, and Colby could smell how much Brennen wanted him.

Brennen didn’t make any effort to mask it this time. “I’m gonna kiss you, okay?” Brennen said quietly, and Colby wasn’t sure if the nod quite made it from his brain to the muscles of his neck, but either way ended in Brennen kissing into his mouth like he belonged there and Colby was good, so good with that.

“I’m gonna touch your dick again, ‘Kay?” Colby breathed against Brennen’s lips, breaking the kiss on a gasp when Brennen’s fingers tightened on his thighs.

“Fuck yeah, that’s okay…”

And he’d pushed his hand into the fabric of Brennen’s pants, grinning as Brennen groaned and tilted his head back. “Fuck, Colby…”

“This good?” Because he’d been with dudes before, other betas, but it had been a long time ago and never anything regular. And he definitely wanted this thing with Brennen to be something regular.

“Yeah, you got it…” And Brennen’s voice was a little breathier than normal, and Colby wanted as his breath moved the tanned skin of his chest, the muscles of his abdomen. “You’ve like, been with a dude before, right?”

“Yeah,” Colby said, almost defensively, tucking his mouth into Brennen’s neck so the Alpha couldn’t see his face. “Just been a while…” Since Kansas he was pretty sure. Since drunken handjobs in the back of his mom’s van.

Not intentionally, of course. Just hadn’t clicked with anyone like that since moving to LA.

“Okay, just uh… uh…” Brennen’s hands tightened on his hips as Colby started nipping at his neck again. He pulled in a breath through his nose before shuddering all over. “Oh fuck…” And Brennen’s hips shifted, pressing up harder into Colby’s hand. “Fuck, you… you smell so _fucking_ good...”

Colby took a sniff, smelling the arousal pouring off of Brennen in waves, waves that were intensifying as they kept going. But he could also smell his own scent, aroused and hot and _omega_ , and he forced down the initial instinctual balk at that scent. Because he was here, and he was an omega, and that was okay. This was just how his body reacted now.

“You good, dude?” Brennen’s voice broke him out of his head, and he realized that he’d slowed his hand on Brennen.

“Yeah, I’m good,” And he was trying to be honest and communicate, so he explained, “Still getting used to my body doing shit…”

“Do you need me to stop…”

“No,” Colby cut him off, not wanting that at all, “I don’t…” He nuzzled into Brennen’s neck, biting a little harder than necessary into his neck. Brennen let out some sort of broken noise, and Colby grinned, stroking along the hard line of Brennen’s cock. “Wouldn’t mind if you took off your pants though…” And he pulled his head out of Brennen’s neck to watch his face. “If that’s okay?”

The gaze that met his eyes was searing. “That’s so okay…” Brennen said, and his hands lifted from Colby’s hips to work at his waistband.

Colby lifted his hand from Brennen, propping himself up on his knees so that Brennen could get himself situated. At first, Brennen seemed the picture of confidence, easily undoing the button closure and shoving his jeans down his legs. But once that task was accomplished, Colby watched his bravado fade as he looked up at Colby from the floor of the treehouse. “Hey,” Brennen said, half a nervous smile on his face. Because he was just in boxer briefs now, his cock clearly visible through the black fabric, and there was just a twinge of vulnerability in his eyes.

It made his heart swell with even more affection for his soulmate.

“Hey,” Colby said, because he was reminded that it wasn’t just him feeling nervous. Brennen was clearly at the same place. “You good, man?”

Brennen chuckled a little bit, “You uh…” He looked down, “Imma be kinda sappy, okay?”

Colby nodded, lowering his body back down to be closer to Brennen. “Yeah?”

Brennen paused for a moment, then he reached for Colby’s face with one of his hands, the other propped up behind him. He trailed his fingers across Colby’s cheeks to his jaw, pausing there. He let out another nervous chuckle, before saying, “Just uh… been a while since I had sex that meant something, you know? And it’s you and I uh…” He chuckled again, his eyes taking in Colby’s body as he looked down again. “I want it to be good, you know? And you’re still dealing with all this shit but...” He huffed out a breath, “You’re still willing to do all of this with me. So, you know...” He carded light fingers through the hair that had fallen across Colby’s forehead. “Thank you, I guess.”

A smile pulled at Colby’s lips, and he pressed his body against Brennen’s, hands coming up to grip into Brennen’s hair so that he could kiss him deeply. Brennen groaned, his hands wrapping around Colby, gripping into his waist and up his back.

And then he pulled back, but kept their foreheads pressed together. “You’re kinda amazing, you know that?” He said quietly.

He felt Brennen’s awkward little laugh against his lips. “I’m uh… I’m really fucking trying,” Brennen said quietly. “Kinda hard when you go smelling like that, but uh…”

Colby kissed him briefly, laughing a little bit, “Like you don’t know exactly what _you_ smell like.”

Brennen smiled, “I just…” He shrugged, “Thank you for trusting me with this. With you.” And that was probably the most earnest thing that Colby had ever heard come out of Brennen’s mouth.

And then there was something in his chest, the start of something with Brennen. And he wasn’t sure exactly what to call it, just that… if it kept going like this… he might start to call it love. “I trust you,” Colby said. He could feel Brennen’s breath against his lips. “I trust you.”

Brennen nodded, but his face still looked just a little doubtful, and Colby couldn’t have that. So he leaned in, catching Brennen’s lips with his in a quiet, affectionate kiss. He felt the combination laugh-groan that Brennen let out against his lips, and Colby decided he wanted to hear more of that.

“I’m gonna jack you off again, okay?”

Brennen chuckled, and Colby felt the nod. “Sure thing, babe…”. And then Colby had wrapped his hand around Brennen’s dick again.

He loved the groaned out gasp he got, Brennen kissing deeper into his mouth, pressing his tongue against Colby’s. There were tight fingers on his hips, but Colby was able to stay in his head, focusing instead on what made Brennen’s hands spasm, made him pull in deeper breaths.

Colby just took it all in. At some point, Brennen broke the kiss so that he could lean his head against the wall of the treehouse, and Colby got to see Brennen’s face, see the color painted high into his cheeks, his lips pink and swollen from kissing. That wasn’t even to mention the way he _smelled_ …

_Fuck, his Alpha was hot…_

And his ass was wet, the emptiness present in his ass and his abdomen, but he tried to accept those sensations, process them as part of his new normal.

Because this was normal. This was just how he experienced arousal now. At least his dick was still hard. That hadn’t changed. He could acutely feel his heart rate there, pulsing in his groin. He just ignored the part of his brain telling him that he could so easily just position over Brennen’s dick, position it and slide it in...

But that still caused some sort of nausea in his stomach, so he ignored that urge, just moving his hand to grip better around the head of Brennen’s cock.

For better or for worse, Brennen shifted his hips just as Colby moved his hand, and he felt it when Brennen’s underwear slipped to reveal hot, flushed skin. Brennen’s eyes opened, “Oh fuck…”

“This okay?” Colby asked, taking the initiative to push the rest of the fabric out of the way. Brennen just nodded, his hips pressing into Colby’s hand with a stuttered thrust.

“Yeah, yeah, fuck…” Brennen breathed, his abs flexing. “Oh fuck, that feels so good…” Colby’s eyes got stuck there for a moment, watching the muscles contract as his hand jacked Brennen off. Brennen let out a little gasp as Colby’s hand gripped around the base of his cock.

_God it was thick and it would feel so good splitting him open…_

Despite the balk in his gut, lust pulsed up his spine. Colby’s scent must have done a thing, because Brennen groaned out loud, opening eyes to look at him. “You… you…” He blinked hard, clearly trying to focus. “You, fuck…”

“Sensitive?” Colby asked, half a shit eating grin on his face. It was fucking nice to be the one to leave Brennen lost for words.

“Because of you, you ass,” Brennen muttered back, “Your fucking pheromones…” He gasped in a quick breath at a brush over the head. “O- babe…”. His hands spasmed on Colby’ thighs. Colby just grinned, sliding his hands to grip tight around the bases Brennen’s cock and slide up, evoking a whole hip jerking motion from the Alpha. “You know… you know… God, o-baby, fuck…” Brennen was trying to talk again, “You know like… I’m gonna…” And his cheeks were a little pink, but he spoke anyway, “You keep doing that, I’m gonna start to knot…”

“I know,” Colby said, and he did know that. That was pretty basic physiology. And albeit he hadn’t seen a knot in real life directed at him but… he did know that was how it worked. He tried to ignore the rush of wet he felt from his ass at the idea of the knot.

_Knot me, breed me, Alpha!_

His scent must have done a thing again, and Brennen groaned. “You smell… so fucking good ome-... baby…”

And then Colby got what Brennen was choking off, that short sound before the pet name.

_Omega…_

And fuck if that didn’t cause a clench in his gut. Both a good and a bad one. Not that he could really blame Brennen for it though. He knew when his hormones were wreaking havoc he’d called Brennen Alpha.

So really, it made sense.

Still made him feel a little weird though. Weird, wrong, but… good, right.

Fuck, this omega thing was confusing...

Brennen was talking again. “Fuck… okay, I just… I just want you to know…” He swallowed hard, and it was through gritted teeth Brennen said, “We can still stop. It’s okay, you don’t have to… I didn’t know how the whole knot thing was going to make you feel so like, we can still stop- oh fuck!” His ramble was cut off when Colby bit into the skin under his left ear to make him shut up.

Colby enjoyed the cry that tapered off to a whine, and then the petulant, “You could have just told me to shut up.”

“Could have,” Colby said, shrugging, and he licked the teeth indents in Brennen’s neck. “This was more fun.”

“You’re… fuck... an asshole...”

Colby’s attention was pulled back to his hands when he started to feel it, the swelling at the base of Brennen’s cock that would be his knot. He shifted his eyes back down, watching as the purple flesh grew under his fingers. “What feels good?” Colby asked, “What, like… what feels good with it?”

Brennen let out a groan. “Fuck… uh…” Colby tried to ignore how tightly Brennen’s hands were gripping into his hips, the grip clearly serving as some kind of grounding for Brennen. “If you like… use two hands,” Brennen said, and his cheeks were flushed again but he answered anyway. “One like, tight around the knot and one like… at the head ohfuckjustlikethat…”

He was going to have bruises on his hips but it was worth it for the broken noise that burst from Brennen’s chest. His knot swelled even more under Colby’s fingers. He could still get his whole hand around it but knew that would not be the case as they continued. “God, fuck…” Brennen swore. “Fucking… fuck, o-babe… you’re so good. Just like that, fuck, baby, yeah…”

Colby cocked an eyebrow. Damn, horny Brennen had a mouth on him. Not that he should have expected anything else really…

And then Brennen had reached up with his hands and pulled Colby’s face towards him, the kiss really more a clash of teeth and tongues and lips than a proper kiss but Colby was okay with it. Because this was hot. Really fucking hot. So fucking hot as Brennen shuddered and thrusted into his hands, his knot swelling even larger until Colby couldn’t get his hands all the way around, settling instead for shifting the stroking, squeezing motion to more of a twisting one.

Brennen didn’t seem to mind, letting out a loud gasp that turned into a moan, breaking the kiss to run his lips down Colby’s neck, mouthing at it desperately. Colby was briefly worried that he would lose it here, not having had Brennen’s mouth at his neck resulting in anything good but that seemed to not be the case. Because Brennen was kissing him, licking his neck but Colby was still in his head. He felt a tad bit high, but…

It was manageable. It was good. Really fucking good.

“Colby, baby, baby, fuck,” Brennen was talking again, “I’m like, I’m like serious… fuck… I’m gonna, I’m so fucking close, you’re so fucking good, God…” He took a desperate inhale at Colby’s neck, “Fuck, baby, please, I’m gonna…”

Brennen was gonna cum. Because he’d never seen it before, never watched Brennen fall apart like this before but he knew, he knew that Brennen was about to lose it. Could fucking smell it on him, in him…

He wanted to watch Brennen fall apart…

He redoubled his efforts on Brennen’s cock, stroking the head, catching the underside of the head with the palm of his hand, squeezing and twisting the hand wrapped around his knot, the swelling up to the size of an apple now. He let out a groan as Brennen gripped a hand into his hips again, one staying curled around the back of his neck-

_But not gripping, not pulling_

-just grounding, holding Colby close to him. “Baby, baby, fuck, fuck…” And then Brennen’s mouth was off his neck, but he heard the snarl as Brennen’s whole body shook. He smelled the pulse of hormones as Brennen came, his own body jolting in reaction as something wet splashed against his chest. He heard a growled “ _Fuck…”_ Brennen almost sounding like he had something in his mouth.

Colby just kept stroking him, looking down to watch Brennen’s hips and cock pulse in his hands. He thought he felt some of the semen hit his cheek, and he grimaced a little bit, even through the indulgent grin.

He slowly tapered off his stroking, slowing as Brennen’s shudders slowed, as cum stopped pulsing from his dick. He moved his hands when Brennen had stopped thrusting up into him, reaching with the one he thought had less cum on it to reach for Brennen’s face.

But then Brennen turned to look at him and he was immediately alarmed when he saw blood on Brennen’s lips. “Babe, what the fuck?” He reached for Brennen’s mouth, and Brennen just seemed confused at first. But then he seemed to come down enough to register why Colby was worried and he shook his head.

“Nah, man… I’m good,” He said, shaking his head. His voice was still breathless, still high, but he didn’t look worried. He lifted his other hand, the hand that had been wrapped around the back of Colby’s neck and Colby got it.

Brennen had bitten himself.

His heart jolted, confused in its reactions. “Why the fuck did you do that?” He demanded.

Brennen shrugged, looking at his arm nonchalantly. “Didn’t wanna bite you,” He said simply.

“... oh…” Colby said faintly, watching Brennen wipe the blood from his lips.

“It’ll heal,” Brennen shrugged again, running a hand through his hair and finally seeming to take in Colby. There was a pulse of Alpha scent from him, even as he grinned. “Bro, you’re like, covered in cum.”

“And who’s fault is that?” Colby rolled his eyes, suddenly aware of the semen drying on him. His omega definitely was finding something arousing and _claimed_ about the whole thing but Colby just felt gross. “You got a towel or something?”

Brennen laughed, “Yeah, yeah I do, hold on…” He leaned over, reaching for the backpack that he’d shoved into the corner.

It didn’t look like a towel, more likely a spare shirt, but Colby didn’t protest when Brennen started using it to clean him up. He was watching instead the still bleeding wound on Brennen’s arm.

Brennen had bitten himself. Brennen had bitten himself to bleeding rather than bite Colby.

Fuck…

Brennen looked up, catching the direction of his gaze. “Dude, I’m fine,” He promised quietly. “Don’t even worry about it.”

Colby pressed his lips together, looking at the still bleeding bite marks. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Brennen shrugged. “It was either bite me or bite you. And uh…” He chuckled awkwardly, “We saw what happened with that last time.”

Colby winced, remembering all too clearly hitting the ground, Brennen’s concerned eyes on him. And he didn’t want that to happen again, he really, really didn’t but… part of him…

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” Brennen asked, and his hand had come up to brush against Colby’s cheek.

Colby frowned, but shook his head. “Can I get back to you?” He asked. “I’m uh… I’m not sure what’s going on in my head right now.”

And thank God for Brennen, because he just nodded, drawing back and leaning back against the treehouse wall. “Yeah, sure thing, babe.” He cast a look up and down Colby’s body, Colby still kneeling over Brennen. In particular, his gaze seemed to catch Colby’s groin, bulge still evident despite the heavier conversation. “You uh…” His eyes darted up to meet Colby’s, then back down. “You want help with that?”

Colby felt lust burst up his spine, and his guess was that his body put off some sort of scent in reaction, because he heard the groan Brennen stifled. But despite his body’s reaction, Colby still hesitated, because last time… last time hadn’t gone great.

Last time he’d lost control.

Brennen seemed to note his hesitance, adding quickly, “You don’t have to. Like, at all. You totally don’t but…”

“No, I…” And Colby had started the sentence but he didn’t know where it was going, so he trailed off. Because he ached, and he wanted Brennen to touch him but… “I’m just nervous…” He admitted, feeling heat in his cheeks. “Which is… so fucking stupid because like, I trust you, and… and I’ve done all of this before but…”

Brennen shook his head. “Nah, man, I got it. Last time was uh, kinda a clusterfuck.” He’d started absently stroking his fingertips up and down Colby’s thighs. Colby wasn’t sure if it was intentional, but the tinglings sensations definitely weren’t being ignored. He caught one of Brennen’s hands with his, stopping the motion. Brennen winced, “Sorry…”

“No, I mean, I’m sorry I can’t just do this like a normal fucking person,” Colby groaned, “I’ve had sex, I’ve had a lot of sex, and this shouldn’t be a fucking problem but…” He gestured angrily.

“But it’s different,” Brennen said. “I mean, sex changed for me when I presented too, man. Took me a long time to get used to the Alpha hormones.” He shrugged. “You just presented… what, three weeks ago? And you’re… trying to do shit with me, your uh… Alpha soulmate. It’s different.”

Colby groaned, and Brennen wrapped a soft hand around the back of his neck again, drawing Colby’s forehead to meet his. Colby smiled, wrapping an arm around Brennen’s neck.

“Look, I can do shit to you, or I can just cuddle you and feed you White Claw,” Brennen said, humor in his voice. “Up to you. Both sound good to me.”

Colby hesitated. Because he knew Brennen was being honest. That there was no pressure for anything Colby did or didn’t want to do.

But... he was slowly realizing he _did_ want to.

“Just… slow…” Colby said, slowly removing his hand from restraining Brennen’s. It instead joined his other looped around Brennen’s neck. He met Brennen’s eyes, giving him a small smile. “I trust you.”

Something lust and _mine_ and _Alpha_ flared from Brennen and Colby couldn’t help the whimper that pulled from his throat. “You’re sure,” Brennen checked in with him one more time.

Colby nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

Brennen looked at him for a moment. He seemed to be okay with what he saw though, because he started the light tracing of the hand on Colby’s thigh again. Colby shivered a little bit, still not used to that being so sensitive, but it wasn’t bad.

It was good.

“Ass is still out?” Brennen asked, and his other hand had crept down from Colby’s neck to trace down his chest.

“Yeah…” Colby said, feeling his cheeks flame again, both with embarrassment and shame. Because his omega wanted it but he still couldn’t… “Like… cheeks are okay, but not…”

“I gotcha,” Brennen nodded. His hand on Colby’s chest had paused. “Nipples?”

Colby paused again, because those had been so sensitive last time, so fucking sensitive, and had probably contributed to the whole loss of control thing. But they had been good. And Brennen was going to be slower and more careful this time, and he knew what to look for so…. “Yeah… that’s okay…” He said.

Brennen’s eyebrow cocked up in surprise, but his Alpha also smelled pleased. Colby just smiled nervously, not sure what to do about the whole wanting to please Brennen (his Alpha) urge, because it was definitely a thing but… But fuck, no, he was watching Brennen here, because Brennen was clearly watching him. They were trying a thing.

And Colby felt him swipe one thumb over his nipple.

He pulled in a gasp. The skin was much more sensitive than he remembered, instantly sending lust and hormones humming through his veins again. He watched Brennen take a breath and shudder a little bit, but not lose eye contact with him. “Good?” The Alpha asked.

Colby shifted a little bit, but settled on nodding. “Yeah.” It was good. It was good and he wanted more.

“Keeping going?”

“Yeah- mmm…” He felt the moan in his throat as Brennen started stroking. “Fuck…”

“Good?”

“Mhmm…”

And it was. It really was. 

He let his eyes fall closed, focused on the sensations buzzing through his body from his chest. It was… sensitive, but good, arousal puddling in a little pool in his gut. His cock hardened again, his ass aching just a little bit but… still good. Still good.

He tried not to be embarrassed by the little whimpers he could hear coming out of his throat because the first time he did it he smelled the lust that pulsed off of Brennen, heard the murmured, “Fuck, that’s so hot…” He even opened his eyes to see Brennen’s green ones staring up at him, both of Brennen’s hands now alternating stroking at his nipples and scratching at his chest.

“God, babe…” Colby breathed, shuddering under Brennen’s continued touch. “Fuck…” He leaned forward, pulling Brennen into him for a kiss. Brennen growled against his lips, one of the hands that had been playing at his chest dropping down to grip tightly into his hips.

“You’re so fucking hot…” Brennen broke the kiss to growl, “Just… God, the fucking noises you make…”

Colby didn’t know how to respond to that, so he just kissed Brennen again, pressing his torso against Brennen’s so that he had something to grind into. He was hard now, fully so, and his body was aching for something more. Brennen’s hand on his hip dropped again to grip into an asscheek, and Colby was a little surprised for a moment, pulling back to look at Brennen.

Brennen’s grin was cheeky, but careful. “You’ve got a nice ass,” He said, playfully smacking the cheek he had been holding. It didn’t make much of an impact through the pants he was wearing, but Colby still registered the spank. 

That pulled him out of his head. “You spanking me or something?” He asked, a little embarrassed with how breathy his voice came out but still feeling like he couldn’t let this pass with Brennen.

Brennen laughed, “No, but I can if you want me to.” That offer was accompanied by a waggle of his eyebrows.

Colby paused, thought about it, and realized that he really wasn’t all that opposed to the idea. He’d done it with some of the kinkier girls he’d been with. “Not now, but… maybe,” He offered Brennen, grinning as Brennen’s eyes went wide.

Brennen groaned, “Dude, you go saying shit like that and I’m gonna pop another boner.”

Colby grinned, and rocked his groin against Brennen’s in response. Brennen growled, baring his teeth at Colby, squeezing the nipple that he still held in one of his hands.

A surprised whine burst from Colby’s chest, his whole body juddering as any trace of teasing fell from his face. He faintly heard Brennen’s answering growl as the rougher handling sent a rush of hormones through his body.

But he still heard Brennen’s voice ask him, “Still good?”

Words were a little hard in the spinning aftermath of that last stimulation, but he nodded. “Yeah, yeah…” He shook himself a little bit, “I’m good.”

“You want more?” Brennen asked, and his eyes darted down to Colby’s crotch and back up. “Like… you want me to jack you off, or…”

He was blushing again, but he nodded. “That uh... yeah, that would… yeah.”

Brennen chuckled, “Okay…” And one of his hands dropped to graze down Colby’s abdomen. He paused right above the pants line, where the line of his erection was clearly straining the fabric. Colby waited for the contact, for the glorious friction and pressure, but Brennen just looked up at him. “You wanna stop, we stop,” He reminded Colby quietly.

A warm feeling spread through his chest, because even now Brennen was still checking on him. “I know,” He pressed his fingers through Brennen’s hair. “I know.” He was nervous, scared to lose control again, but…

He trusted Brennen. He trusted Brennen to stop if he did.

Brennen nodded, and that was all the warning he got before Brennen wrapped a hand around his cock.

Colby pulled in a breath, his eyelid fluttering without his permission. It was more sensitive. Colby could definitely feel it. Whether it was due to the lead up or the omega thing or the fucking way Brennen smelled he wasn’t sure but… He was definitely more sensitive.

But it wasn’t bad. Not at all, and he was definitely still in his head, still here with Brennen, not lost in any sea of hormones. Just where he wanted to be.

Brennen was still looking at him, never having lost eye contact, and Colby invited a grin to his face. “Well, you gonna start moving or…”

Brennen let out an explosive laugh of relief, “Fuck, man, I’m just happy you’re still with me. Didn’t know if this was gonna trigger something.” Because of course that was his fear. It was Colby’s too.

Colby nodded, shifting his hips a little bit, sighing at the little bit of stimulation that gave him. “Naw, man, this is… this is good…” One of these days… he needed to work through the triggers with Brennen. And it made him anxious but… maybe if Brennen really understood how they worked, if Colby knew how he felt, he would feel… safer? That wasn’t quite the right concept but nonetheless felt like something down the line they should probably address.

For now though, Colby was going to focus on how Brennen’s hand felt on his dick, because Brennen had started stroking and oh fuck this felt good.

And he wanted to watch Brennen’s face, but after all the build up and in combination with Brennen’s other hand starting up on a nipple… he decided that just closing his eyes and enjoying the sensation felt like a better move. The quiet little groaning whimpers had started up in his throat again, and once they had started he couldn’t stifle them. He definitely wasn’t going to complain about the low, growling noise he got from Brennen in reaction.

“Okay, hold on…” And then he yelped, because Brennen had dropped his dick for a moment but then gripped into his ass with his hands. Brennen bodily pulled him closer, close enough that Colby really had his legs spread over Brennen’s lap and Brennen was close enough that he could get a mouth to Colby’s chest while the other gripped a hip to stabilize him.

Colby met Brennen’s eyes with wide ones, “What the- oh fuck…” He groaned, leaning his head back because that was when Brennen lowered his mouth to a nipple and licked it.

“Better position,” Brennen chuckled a little bit, and Colby might have smacked him for being a shit except that Brennen had started sucking on his chest and his hand was kneading Colby’s ass as his other worked inside of his pants.

“You’re a dick,” Colby muttered with some of his last remaining brain cells, feeling the laugh against his chest. And then Brennen had wrapped a warm, solid hand around his cock and he lost the rest of them. It was in a good way though, not in a out of control sort of way.

Everything just felt really, really good.

Colby was thankful that his pants were loose, because they offered no resistance when Brennen shoved them out of the way to get at his cock better. And then it was really, really good, and Colby could only gasp in breaths and groan them out, enjoying the feeling as the Alpha used his hands and his mouth to drive Colby insane.

And it was a little bit a lot, but it was good, and he was still in his head. Floaty and high as shit, but he could still process and isolate all the sensations arcing through his body, enjoy the closeness and scent of Brennen, acknowledge that they were here and good and together. Brennen was murmuring something occasionally under his breath, something about “So fucking hot” and “god, I love this”, growling out occasionally at vocal reactions from Colby as they both enjoyed what they could do and feel together.

Fuck, he was getting close...

“Babe, babe… fuck…” Colby pulled Brennen’s head up from his chest to kiss him deeply, barely able to maintain the kiss through the breaths he was gasping in, the sounds that kept trying to escape.

“You getting close?” Brennen asked, and Colby wasn’t quite sure how he knew, it was probably a scent thing, because he knew he was wet, could feel it, a void in him aching to be penetrated and filled but he was ignoring that. Completely ignoring it.

“I… ye-yeah…” Colby whimpered, focusing on his cock and Brennen’s fingers wrapped around it, the shocks the stimulation sent rocketing up and down his body, through his veins. God, it was right there, he could almost fucking taste it. “Godfuck…” His whole body pulsed with another wave of hormones.

He heard Brennen’s growl, “You’re so fucking hot, you know that?” Brennen was almost thrusting up against him again, hand on his ass rocking Colby into him as his other stroked his cock in time. If not for the throbbing emptiness and _need_ for some kind of penetration he could almost picture… almost picture that Brennen was holding him as he fucked up and into him _…_

Confusing feelings or not his body was clearly into it, Brennen let out full throated groan at the pheromone burst that even Colby smelled. “You smell like crack, you’re so, so fucking just…” And his head had fallen to Colby’s shoulder, his breath sending whispering little shivers down his back.

Colby tilted his head almost subconsciously, wanting more of the sensation on his neck because that felt really, really fucking good. A brief warning flashed through his brain about teeth near the neck but it wasn’t enough to stop anything, and Colby felt one of his hands wrap around the back of Brennen’s head, pushing Brennen closer into his neck.

He heard the questioning noise, but everything within him was driving towards something, driving towards an inevitable conclusion and Colby _needed_ … “It’s okay…” He gasped, barely able to find the words with how fucking close he was, how much he fucking needed Brennen to just _get it_ . “I need, I need… _please_ …”

He might have smelled just a smidgeon of doubt, but then he felt Brennen’s lips on his neck, and he gasped out some sort of noise, some sort of word. It might have been a “Yes!” or just some nondescript word of approval but Brennen took it as permission, licking and kissing a strip up his neck and back down into his collarbone.

“Fuck-fuck, please,” He wanted this, needed this, as the confusing feelings from earlier came back, fully aware now that his body was calling out for Brennen to fucking sink his teeth in and…

And he felt teeth graze his collarbone and his hearing fuzzed out. It felt like only a moment later when all of the tension that had been coiling and pulsing in his groin erupted, and Colby felt a yell tear at his throat even as he heard none of it. His whole body broke into shudders, endorphins and hormones crashing through his system as everything released and he fucking _came…_

It was a moment before he came back to himself. Not because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t really want to, content to float on the high that that orgasm had fucking given him. But then he heard Brennen’s concerned voice ask, “Hey, dude… you with me…”

“Mostly,” Colby quipped back, his voice much more breathless and thready than he’d anticipated. He felt the quiet chuckle against him, realizing that he’d fallen forward, sprawled across Brennen’s chest. “You uh… holy fuck that was… holy fuck…”

“Fucking hot is what that was,” Brennen said, and he was stroking Colby’s back, he could feel that now, feel something other than the shivering aftershocks still skittering across his nerves. “Holy shit, dude.”

Colby laughed a little bit, still feeling really high and not at all in his body. “Fucking… fuck… good, yes, good…”

He heard Brennen’s laughing response. He was honestly so floaty that he didn’t even flinch at the stroking motion in his hair. It didn’t trigger anything, just felt nice.

“So uh…” And Brennen sounded a little nervous, and Colby lifted his head to finally look at the Alpha. Brennen just gave him a nervous smile. “Good? Like, no losing control?”

Colby smiled then, nodding. “Yeah, good. Was uh… still here the whole time.” He moved a hand to touch Brennen’s face. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Brennen said, lifting a hand to press Colby’s hand to his cheek. There was a tender moment between them for a moment, before Brennen grinned. “So uh… we’re both covered in cum again, by the way. We should clean that up, you know, before it dries.”

Colby grimaced, “Ew, fuck, you’re right.” And his brain felt a little bit less like mush as he finally pulled himself off of Brennen.

He felt the boner under him as he shifted off. He sent a disbelieving look at Brennen, “Dude, again?”

Brennen had the decency to look abashed, “What, you were really hot.”

Colby rolled his eyes, grabbing the shirt from earlier first. “You’re on your own with that one, I’m done.” He wiped himself off quickly before tossing the shirt back to Brennen.

“Yeah, yeah,” Brennen was still grinning, wiping himself off as well and pulling back into his pants. 

Colby huffed a laugh when he winced at the tight jeans on his dick. “Shouldn’t have fuckin’ worn jeans, dude…” Colby teased him.

“Hey, I look hot in them,” Brennen protested with a grin, bucking up the pants. 

“Yup, you do,” Colby agreed, and he was gratified to see Brennen’s faint blush.

“Thanks…” Brennen murmured, flashing a smile. Colby felt his chest warm at the gesture. Brennen played tough, but he had a squishy underside that came out every now and again.

Colby loved when he got to see it.

Situated again, Brennen settled back on the tree house floor. He looked at Colby, holding an arm out. “Cuddles?” He asked.

Colby laughed again, but nodded, “Yeah, that would be good,” He answered, and settled back into Brennen.

It was quiet for another moment. Colby took in Brennen’s breaths, his scent, both slowly calming in the afterglow. The Alpha’s scent had shifted to something content, something comforting. Colby tucked his face into Brennen’s neck, taking in a grounding breath. Maybe he should be freaking out more about the wanting to be bitten, or the desire for penetration, but… he wasn’t. 

It was nice.

Maybe he was finally getting used to this omega thing.

Brennen was the one to break the contented quiet. His voice was soft when he asked. “So that was really good? Like, totally okay?”

And Colby just nodded, grinning a little bit. “Yeah, really good.” He lifted his head to meet Brennen’s eyes. “Thank you.” He leaned forward to give Brennen a slow, affectionate kiss.

Brennen’s mouth had pulled into a contented smile when he drew back. “Sure thing, man, sure thing,” Brennen squeezed him tighter against his body. “Sure thing…” Colby tucked his head back into Brennen’s shoulder. His body still hummed pleasantly, and he had no incentive to move anytime soon.

Brennen was… Brennen was good.

He trusted Brennen.

And they let the world fade into the background for a little while...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, a return after one month and its all smut. Love it.
> 
> Not gonna be an update to “Shattered Dreams“ this week. This one took all my writing power. I may alternate stories as inspiration strikes.
> 
> So, I got stuck at this chapter, because I thought it was important to write it because of stuff that’s gonna happen later, but then I got stuck With the flow and interchange for 7000 words. But now its there, and good, and we can move on.
> 
> Back to the plot next chapter. Good to see all of you again! Hopefully you all stuck around through the wait. 
> 
> Anyway, as always, let me know what you think, and I’ll see you in the next one!


	15. Chapter 15

His phone buzzing jarringly in his pocket startled Colby from the contented snuggly doze he’d found himself in. He felt Brennen jump, the Alpha still tucked against him and around him. “The fuck?” Brennen grumbled, tucking his nose further into Colby’s neck.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” Colby muttered, reaching into his pocket and silencing the thing. Probably spam. Brennen hummed a contented sound, the sensation of his breath against Colby’s neck alighting a faint buzz of hormones.

He really needed to play with Brennen around his neck because he knew it could trigger him but it felt so good… Instead, he just made a noise back at Brennen, nuzzling into his hair and taking another relaxing breath of his scent.

And then his phone rang again.

“The fuck…” Brennen nestled deeper into his neck, but Colby got a creeping sensation in his gut that something was wrong.

“Hold on…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to look at who was calling him.

It was Sam.

“It’s Sam,” He tried not to freak out too much as he answered the phone and put it to his ear. Because Sam knew he was out. And Sam didn’t usually call him unless there was something needed to be addressed _now_. “Yo, what’s up?”

Sam didn’t waste any time. “Dude, we got a problem. Someone leaked your status.”

Colby felt Brennen stiffen, felt his whole spine lock up. “What?”

“Someone leaked your status, it’s all over fuckin’ twitter…” Sam’s voice was a combination of carefully controlled fury and panic.

“Fuck…” He heard Brennen mutter, felt Brennen sit up, the Alpha digging for his own phone. Colby felt ice coalesce over his organs, his stomach drop through the floor. He couldn’t fucking move, someone had… Brennen was digging through twitter, muttering swears under his breath, only confirming what Sam had said. “Shit...” Brennen muttered, “He’s not joking, dude.”

Colby swallowed on a throat gone dry. Because of course Sam wouldn’t lie about something like this. “Who?” Colby asked, finally managing a word. Because the list of people who knew was still incredibly short.

He heard Sam’s restrained snarl, “Nothing’s confirmed but… my hunch is John.”

Colby just nodded. Because that was his as well.

Colby heard a series of colorful swears from Brennen, pretty sure that some of them weren’t English. “I… I have to say something. Now.” Colby said, and his fingers were shaking so hard he wasn’t sure how he would manage to type anything right now, let alone hold a camera steady for any kind of video.

“Get home,” Sam said, and thank fuck that Sam wasn’t freaking out, even if he wasn’t sure he’d ever heard Sam this pissed. “We’ll come up with something together, okay? We’re gonna fix this, dude.”

Colby let out some kind of broken laugh. “‘Kay…” He said faintly. Brennen had put his phone back in his pocket, pulling his shirt on. He handed Colby his. “We’ll uh… we’ll be back in like half an hour, okay?” Colby managed across the phone.

“Yeah,” Sam said, “Stacy’s working damage control but uh… might be a good idea if you tweeted something about this like… now.” His tone was apologetic over the anger.

“Yeah… yeah, I’ll come up with something,” Colby nodded, taking his shirt back from Brennen. “Okay, see you soon.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Colby shoved his phone back in his pocket, pulling back into his shirt. “Dude, I’m so fucking sorry,” Brennen started, but Colby just shook his head.

“I’ll figure it out,” Colby said quietly, “I’ll uh… I’ll figure it out.”

Brennen looked like he wanted to say something, but seemed to think better of it, shutting his mouth and nodding. “I’m with you.” Was all he offered.

Colby swallowed again. “Okay…” He said, “Let’s go.”

OOO

Sam’s feet burned chasms in the floor as he paced. Katrina sat at the counter, wrapped in one of his hoodies, staring at her hands.

They’d seen Colby’s tweet go out about ten minutes ago:

_i saw it guys. update coming soon…_

Which Sam decided was about as good as they could do for now as he retweeted it. Because their PR manager Stacy had already made it clear that they were going to have to post something on the duo account, let alone Colby’s.

“Fuck!” He snarled again.

Katrina looked up at him. Anger burned in her eyes, and the agitation was clear in the whiteness of her knuckles. “We’ll figure it out,” She repeated tightly, as she had been telling him for the last half an hour since a storm of notifications had alerted them all to the shitstorm happening on Twitter. #omegaColbyBrock and others like it were already trending. Sam knew their PR team was doing their best to suppress the trending but there was only so much they could do. Some people were calling bullshit, others citing it as true, but fuck, this had not been what Colby wanted…

Sam heard Brennen’s car pull into the driveway and was moving towards the door before he even realized it. He pulled the door open, seeing Colby moving quickly from Brennen’s car. Sam looked for the panic, seeing less of it than expected but still seeing someone who was just barely keeping it together.

“Hey,” Sam called, watching Colby’s eyes turn to him.

“Hey,” Colby called back. He moved towards Sam. “What’s the plan?”

Sam hadn’t been expected the smell. The scent slammed into him, because Colby smelled like Brennen, like another Alpha’s claim. Brennen and Colby must have been… Sam just hoped that Colby mistook his inability to contain a snarl as a reaction to the situation, not a reaction to how Colby smelled.

He thought Brennen might have caught it though, because when he glanced at the other Alpha he saw Brennen’s lips curl up to show his teeth.

Fuck, this was so not the time…

So Sam swallowed down his anger, because this was Colby’s status and Colby’s PR and he didn’t get to lose it right now. They had other shit to focus on. “We gotta post something,” He said, letting himself fall into damage control mode. “Instagram story or something. You’re still gonna have to make a video about it but… Stacy thinks it’s best if we get on top of it before morning. It’s only been out for about…” He glanced at his watch, “Two hours? So we can still catch it before Europe and the east coast wake up.”

“Fuck…” Colby groaned, wringing his hands together. “Fuck, this is bullshit…” Sam heard the panic and the anger and the fear in his voice.

Sam just nodded, gritting his teeth. “I know, and I’m sorry.” He reached for Colby’s shoulder, gripping it. “We’ll figure this out, okay?”

Colby looked up at the ceiling and Sam watched him swallow. “Fuck, okay, okay…”. He watched Colby’s brain process for a few moments, looking up at the front of the house. “I’ll post on my story and twitter and then you share it. Same for the duo?”

Sam nodded. “If you’re good with that?”

Colby laughed, and if it came out a bit hysterical Sam wouldn’t bring it up. “Yeah, I guess. I don’t really get a choice in it anymore.”

And Sam could comment, but he knew it wouldn’t make any difference, so he just squeezed Colby’s shoulder. “Sounds good to me. Your room or…”

“Here is fine,” Colby said, looking around the foyer. Behind him, Brennen also moved into the house, into the kitchen, and Sam watched as Kat seemed to register Brennen’s scent. He watched the brief shift in her expression, and then the way her eyes moved to him. Her eyes asked him if he was okay with this.

Which his Alpha wasn’t and Sam… well, he wasn’t sure how he felt. So he just shrugged at Kat. This really wasn’t the time for Sam to be getting all possessive Alpha.

Colby had pulled up instagram, and he was staring into the camera when Sam looked back at him. “Okay…” And he wasn’t okay and he really didn’t look like it, but Sam watched him school his expression, take a deep breath, and hit record.

OOO

“Hey guys, just wanted to let you guys know that I’ve seen what’s going on on Twitter,” Colby’s heart was pounding in his chest. Everything around him didn’t really feel real as he spoke into the camera, “And I wanted to say something because uh… well, its not wrong.”

He’d never been good at being subtle, may as well be up front now, huh?

“You guys always joke about me being a late bloomer with the beard and baby face all so uh…” He laughed a little bit, “In keeping with tradition I uh… presented about three weeks ago.” He probably didn’t have to clarify there, but did so anyway. “As omega, that it.”

He glanced at Sam before he kept going, needing to see the support in Sam’s face. And it was there, irregardless of the pulse of possessiveness that Colby definitely hadn’t missed when he walked in the door with Brennen. Because of course he reeked of the other Alpha, having literally been covered in his cum about an hour prior.

But he pushed all of that from his mind as he kept talking. He’d deal with that later. “I was planning on telling you guys this Friday but uh… here we are.” He forced a smile to his face.

“Obviously I’ll go into more detail Friday with everything but uh, I just wanted to put this out there, before any of the rumors got too crazy. Yeah, I presented omega, but nothing changes over here. I’m still gonna be the same guy you’ve known.”

He looked over at Brennen, who gave him a soft smile of support. “So uh, yeah. Just wanted to hop on here and get that out. More details coming in my video Friday. Thanks to everyone for sticking with me and guys… guys…” He pushed a long suffering look to his face, wanting to finish this with a little bit of humor, “Please control the fan fictions, okay?” He pushed a teasing grin to his face, “Alright, I’ll talk to you Friday. Peace.” And he hit end.

And then any sense of composure left him. He paused for a moment, staring at the recorded video for a moment, afraid to hit post. Because he was good at faking it in front of a camera. He’d made his living for the past eight years doing that. But posting about this… that was admitting to this omega thing. 

That made it real.

“That sound okay?” He asked out loud, conscious of the eyes on him.

“Yeah, sounded good to me,” Sam said, with vocalized noises from the other two people present. But still, Colby paused, because he hadn’t been ready, hadn’t wanted everyone to know just yet but… fuck…

“We’re with you,” Brennen said quietly, and Colby felt everyone in the room turn to look at the Alpha. Brennen either didn’t notice or didn’t care, stepping from the kitchen to stand in front of Colby. Colby found himself taking a deep inhale of the Alpha’s scent before he even realized it.

He hadn’t realized how calming it would be. He wondered if that was one of those soulmate things.

Brennen’s eyes were still even on him, and he groaned, pressing his hand into his face for a moment. This would make it real. Because rumors were rumors but this was him admitting to it, to this thing that he still wasn’t okay with.

Because it was okay to be an omega but it wasn’t okay for _him_ to be an omega...

But then Tara’s words came back to him, 

_“At some point, you’re going to figure out that it doesn’t matter that you’re an omega. But like, until you do… Just don’t let anyone else know you haven’t figured it out, ‘kay?”_

He took another deep breath of Brennen’s scent and let it go. He had to do this. And maybe he didn’t get a choice here but… this needed to be done. So he nodded, looking back at his phone. “Okay…” He said quietly, and hit post.

He stared at his phone for a few moments in the aftermath, realizing finally just what had happened. It was out, his new gender was out.

It was over, but in a lot of ways, it was just beginning.

And then there were arms around him, and Colby smelled his Alpha - _not his-_ wrapped around him. His body shuddered without his consent, and as he wrapped arms around him Colby heard Brennen’s voice in his ear murmuring, “You’re okay, babe. You’re okay.”

“Stay tonight?” Colby asked quietly.

“Yeah, yeah, of course…”

He heard Sam’s voice next. “It’ll be okay, dude. We’ll make it work, like we always do. We’re with you.”

And when Colby lifted eyes to Sam, he saw that Kat had come from the kitchen to press herself up against Sam. Their body language made how they felt about the subject clear.

They were with him. No matter what everyone said.

“Thanks guys,” He said, and he’d never admit that his voice cracked.

Fuck… he really didn’t know how he’d be doing this without them.

OOO

“Well, no one’s super pissed…” Sam said, eyes scanning over the tweets. It was probably three AM, and sleep had yet to find him. Usually the faster to sleep of the couple, it was a little odd that Sam being awake should be keeping Kat awake but given the circumstances he thought it could be excused.

“Never thought they would be,” Kat said, and when Sam glanced over at her, she was playing some sort of game on her phone, something with cats. She looked up at his stare, and shrugged at the look on her face. “His fans love him. It’s honestly kinda creepy sometimes. This wasn’t going to change it.” She winced, “Except I am not looking forward to the new Alpha/omega Solby stuff.”

Sam grimaced. “God, me neither,” He paused on one particular tweet, feeling a growl crawl out of his throat. “Never mind, here’s an asshole.”

Katrina looked at his screen. “‘Breeding slut?’ Really?” She groaned. “God, I hate people.”

Sam made the mistake of clicking into the comments, and derogatory language was even worse there. He didn’t even realize he was snarling until Kat cut him off with a gentle kiss and a hand over his phone.

“People suck,” She assured him, lips moving against his. She’d moved her body to press against his. “Colby will be okay. He’s dealt with this before. Not like this but…” She sighed, drawing back a little, “But he’ll be okay. Eventually.”

“I know, I know, I just…” He sighed, ”I worry about him,” Sam said quietly, looking back at his phone.

Kat’s face turned soft. “I know you do…” She pressed a kiss to his cheek. He felt a smile tug at his lips, turning his head to kiss her again. She giggled a little bit, resting her head on his shoulder and looking at his phone too.

That was when she brought it up. “So… we gonna talk about it?”

Sam frowned. “About what?”

Kat sent him a disbelieving look. “About the whole Brennen and Colby having sex thing?”

Sam would later deny the squawk he let out. “The _fuck,_ Kat?”

Kat cocked an eyebrow at him. “I know you smelled it too.”

Sam felt the heat in his cheeks, feeling a shadow of that Alpha possession in his chest. “I… fuck, goddangit…” He put his phone down, pressing his face into his hands. “Why exactly do we need to talk about this?”

“Because up until this point, your Alpha hasn’t been great with Brennen being soulmates with him, or kissing him, or touching him, and I didn’t think that them having sex was gonna go well either.”

Sam groaned, “Why do you have to keep saying it?”

“Sam, you are a twenty-three year old man, you can deal with using the correct words for what they’re doing.”

Sam let out another exasperated noise, but sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I uh…” He sighed, “So, I’m trying really hard to be okay with it.” Kat kept looking at him though, and Sam asked defensively, “What?”

“Sam, I could freaking smell the Alpha on you tonight.”

“I always smell like Alpha…”

“Fine, like asshole Alpha,” Kat clarified.

“Hey!”

“You know what I meant,” Kat said, waving him off, “You didn’t like it, and I just want you to process this with me before you do something Alpha-y around Colby, okay?”

Sam couldn’t help but feel a little hurt, even as he knew she was right. “I… fuck, Kat…”. He turned away. “He just smelled… it was like Brennen was trying to rub it in my face, even though I know he wasn’t but…” He let out a breath. “It’s a lot of stupid biology shit.”

Kat nodded, “But you know he’s happy, right? Like… obviously this is a lot of shit for him to deal with but…” She smiled faintly, “I look at him, and I can tell Brennen does for him what you do for me.”

Sam looked at her, feeling a little burst of warmth in his chest where his love for her sat. “I love you,” He said quietly.

“Love you too,” Kat said, smiling up at him, “And I think Colby is falling in love with Brennen.”

Sam grit his teeth, but forced himself to think past the Alpha in his chest snarling that another Alpha was taking his best friend, his omega. Because if he reminded himself of that… he could reason past his instincts. Because it wasn’t him that didn’t trust Brennen.

It was his Alpha. And his Alpha admittedly was a creature driven by instinct. Not reason.

“I know…” Sam said, and he tried to look at it from that standpoint, of the standpoint that just saw his best friend falling in love.

And that… he couldn’t not support that.

Fuck knew Colby deserved it.

He hadn’t said anything, but he saw the way Kat’s expression shifted to a more at ease one and thought that Kat might have seen it on his face. “Look, I really don’t want to think about them having sex,” Sam reiterated, “But if Colby’s happy, then I’m gonna be okay with it.” He looked at his phone, able to see the social media shitstorm that they’d still have to deal with in the morning. “Fuck knows he needs something good right now.”

Kat nodded, catching the direction of his gaze. “Yeah…” She agreed, wrapping arms around him. Her skin was warm against his, and when she pulled him back into bed he didn’t fight her.

OOO

When Colby woke up, there was something warm and snuffling tucked into the back of his neck. It took him a moment to place it, but then he woke up enough that his olfactory senses came back online and he smelled Brennen. And then everything else came back online too.

“Fuck…” He muttered, feeling around next to the bed, searching for his phone because he needed to see what had happened over night, what time it was now, because he’d just come out to the world as a fucking omega.

And he wasn’t sure what he had expected when he looked at twitter, or instagram, or dug through his tags but it sure as shit wasn’t this much support.

People were surprised, and there was a little bit of hurt that he hadn’t told them sooner, but the amount of support, the tweets and posts that thanked him for being honest, for coming out proud as an omega, the omegas that tagged him in posts with #omegapride… those were reassuring. And sure, there was some negativity, some people being dicks but those… those were the outliers.

He couldn’t deny that there was a sickening feeling in his gut at some of the language used and what they insinuated… but he’d been doing social media for a long time. So he shoved most of it away to the back of his mind, and tried to focus on the support.

Because there was a lot of it. Overall, it was a positive response. Which was more than he could have hoped for. His subscriber count hadn’t taken any sort of significant hit, and the duo channel hadn’t either. That felt like a good sign in his book.

It was only nine in the morning, so there would still be fallout and reaction videos to deal with, new shit with Solby and Brolby and new things to tiptoe around with his reactions with both of them, worries about being out in public and people using his triggers against him but… 

But that was a problem for another day. When he had a little more brain power and ability to deal with this…. For now, he was going to try to be okay with the fact that everyone knew, and were mostly okay with it.

So he could focus on being okay with it.

And then Colby jumped, because Brennen’s hand, the one that had been casually draped over his side, shifted to grope his chest. He wasn’t able to stifle the groan that direct stimulation of one of his nipples caused. Shit, he still wasn’t used to them being so sensitive.

Causing that reaction seemed to not be the goal the hand was going for though, because at his noise, Brennen retracted his hand to rest absently against Colby’s stomach. Which still caused little fluttery feelings in his gut but those were less blatantly sexual. “Sorry…” He heard Brennen’s sleepy mutter.

“You’re good,” Colby responded quietly, setting his phone down and rotating his body to look at the Alpha. He and Brennen had fallen asleep on different sides of the bed, however Colby had woken up about halfway through the night needing to piss and finding Brennen had wrapped around him in his sleep. It had taken a moment to extricate himself, and after the bathroom trip, Brennen had just curled back around him.

Not that Colby was complaining.

Half open eyes and sleep tousled hair was what Colby turned around to. Brennen was squinting at him, clearly not fully awake. “Yo,” Brennen said, surprising Colby with a quick kiss. Colby wasn’t opposed though, relaxing back into his pillow as Brennen pressed into him. The Alpha’s warmth was reassuring against him, and his heart, although assured he hadn’t completely fucked up telling everyone about his gender, still felt too tight in his chest. As Brennen kept kissing him though, the hand that pressed into his chest did it’s best to lighten some of that pressure.

Before he’d even really processed what had happened, Brennen had pushed him back onto his back, and Brennen was half on top of him. And clearly very interested in him, as the half hard dick pressed into his thigh told him. Not that Colby’s body was much opposed, arching his pelvis a little bit to press into Brennen’s hip. He heard Brennen’s answering growl, and Brennen shifted his body so that his supporting arm pressed into the pillow above Colby’s head.

The shift aligned their groins just right, and Colby broke the kiss on a gasp. Brennen’s answering hiss of pressure made him open his eyes and look up, and suddenly the air took on a very different tone. Brennen held himself over Colby, one hand on his chest, eyes staring intently down at him.

Colby laughed a little bit, suddenly realizing their positions. “Hey,” He said, and his voice had gone raspy in a way not just caused by sleep.

“Hey,” Brennen murmured back at him, and they might have continued into something like last night if Colby’s phone hadn’t buzzed with a phone call.

“I… fuck…” Colby muttered, wiggling under Brennen just a little bit (which caused a _very_ nice sound from Brennen) as he reached for his phone. He was expecting a spam call, but the caller ID told him instead that it was Dr. Atkinson calling him.

Colby frowned, faint worry in his stomach. “Sorry, gotta get this,” He told Brennen apologetically. Brennen gave him a look of mock disappointment, but rolled off of him. He leaned to the other side of the bed, probably looking for his phone.

Colby answered the phone, putting it to his ear. “Hello?”

The doctor’s familiar voice filled his speakers. “Hello, this is Dr. Nadja Adkinson, I’m calling for Colby Brock?”

“Speaking,” Colby answered, sitting up. He hoped his voice sounded normal enough and not like he’d been about to get hot and heavy with his Alpha.

_Mate? Boyfriend? Fuck, there still wasn’t a good word..._

“Oh good, good morning, Colby,” The doctor started. “Sorry to call you so early. Did I wake you up?”

“No, I was up,” Colby answered. Brennen seemed to have located his phone, scrolling through it. Colby traced the lines of his chest with his eyes as he continued the phone conversation, “What’s up?”

“So, I got your blood results back, and I just wanted to go over them with you,” Nadja said, and Colby felt his stomach tighten. “Is this a good time?”

Colby shrugged, “Yeah, I guess.” He wasn’t going to say no. “Was everything okay?”

“You said you presented about three weeks ago right?” 

That wasn’t what he had expected and Colby frowned, not sure why she needed to ask. “Yeah.”

“And your heat ended four or five days before I saw you, right?”

“Yeah…” Colby answered again, and Brennen must have heard the tone of his voice, because the Alpha looked up at him with worry. “Why?”

“While most of your blood values are completely normal, we saw much higher levels of certain omega hormones than we would expect when you’re not actively going through a heat,” Nadja explained, “And lower levels of some of those moderating hormones.”

Colby felt something cold drop into his stomach. “That’s bad, right?” Now Brennen was definitely looking worried.

“What’s she saying?”

“I guess my blood test came back weird…” Colby set the phone on speaker, letting Brennen listen in as the doctor continued.

“Not inherently,” Nadja answered, but Colby could hear the hesitance in her voice. “It might just be your body settling out from your first heat, and since you presented so late they lingered. So I don’t want you to worry too much about it.”

“And if it’s not?” Colby asked, “What does that mean?”

Nadja hesitated, “I want to take another full panel before we worry about that,” She said. These numbers may be entirely off, and I don’t want to come up with a care plan or scare you over flukey results.”

“You told me before that when people present late they can have hormone imbalances and stuff like that,” Colby said, remembering the conversation in the clinic. “Could this be what that is?”

A pause, and then, “Potentially,” Nadja admitted. “But we’ll know more with another hormone panel. And a couple of other tests and imaging.” He heard the clicking of a computer. “I have an opening next Wednesday morning. Would you be able to make it then?”

Colby swallowed. “Yeah, I can do that. What time?”

“11:40,” She said, “Still okay?”

“Yeah…” Colby nodded, his chest tight and his stomach twisting. “Yeah, I can do that.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then,” Nadja said, and he heard a couple more keyboard taps and then, “Don’t worry about this too much Colby, it’s probably just left over from your heat.”

Colby let out a long breath that he realized had been trapped in his lungs, trying to believe her. “Okay, I know. Just uh… fucking great timing…” He muttered. He watched Brennen wince, and then move over to Colby and wrap arms around his middle, chin on his other shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Colby,” The Doctor really did sound apologetic. “We’ll figure this out.”

“Thanks…” Colby said faintly, leaning back into Brennen, “Anything else I should know?”

There was a pregnant pause, one that Colby really, really didn’t like. “What?” He asked.

“Well...” And Nadja was definitely reluctant to say anything, but she spoke anyway, “So, this would be an absolutely worst case scenario, and I really don't think this is where we're at. I want you to understand that,” She prefaced, but that did little to settle Colby’s nerves. “But... if you think you might be going into heat again, I want you to come in immediately.”

Colby felt his body jolt with shock. “Heat? But I just had one?”

“Unpredictable heats can be a symptom of some hormone imbalance syndromes, and some of those can be pretty nasty if not controlled,” Nadja said, her voice apologetic, “It’s not common, and I’ve seen it maybe five or six times in my twenty years of practice but given all the information we have, I just want you to be aware if you should start feeling a heat come on.”

Colby groaned, “That’s just… that’s just great…” Brennen pressed a kiss to the side of his neck, and Colby leaned into him more, needing the grounding. Fuck… his body could betray him again... because not only had he presented late but now he might have some sort of super rare syndrome that would cause heats at an unpredictable rate.

Fucking fantastic. Exactly what he wanted to hear after coming out to the world as omega.

“But like I said,” Nadja reiterated, “Those are very rare, and this is probably some sort of flukey lab result. I’ve seen that happen more often than those syndromes,” Nadja was clearly trying for comfort, but given everything of the last twelve hours, Colby didn’t feel super comforted. “I’ll see you Wednesday, and we’ll figure this out, okay?”

“‘Kay,” Colby said faintly.

“Any questions?” The doctor asked, and Colby just hummed a negative.

“No. Thanks, doc.”

“You’re welcome,” She answered. “I’ll see you Wednesday, okay? Have a good day.”

“You too, bye.”

And the call ended.

Colby turned to look at Brennen, whose face didn’t mask his concern at all. And Colby was really, really trying to be more positive about this omega thing but… “Sometimes this omega thing really, really, sucks…” He muttered, turning his face and body into Brennen’s.

He felt the kiss Brennen pressed to the top of his head. “It’s gonna be okay, man. Promise.”

Colby couldn’t wait for the day when it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Finally getting into the delicious angst arc I’ve been so excited to write.
> 
> Hope everyone’s doing okay! It’s been a hell of a week for the world, let alone anyone in the states, but I hope we’re headed somewhere better now.
> 
> The same may not be able to be said for our poor characters here...
> 
> As always, hope you enjoyed, let me know what you thought, and I’ll see you all in the next one!


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